Court allows activist Sudha Bharadwaj, out on bail, to shift to Thane

A special court on Thursday allowed activist Sudha Bharadwaj, recently released on bail in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to live in the neighbouring Thane district instead of Mumbai.

A special court here on Thursday allowed activist Sudha Bharadwaj, recently released on bail in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to live in the neighbouring Thane district instead of Mumbai.

Bharadwaj was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2021, three years after her arrest.

The special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases, while passing the release order, had said that she shall not leave Mumbai without permission.

The activist later filed an application seeking permission to live in her friend's house in Thane, stating that finding accommodation in Mumbai was expensive.

Special Judge D E Kothalikar on Thursday granted the plea.

The court also took on record the address where she would be living, and directed her to report to the Vartak Nagar police station in Thane city every fortnight.

The investigating officer is at liberty to verify the correctness of the address and inform the senior police inspector of Vartak Nagar police station, the court said.

Bharadwaj and several other Left-leaning activists and writers were arrested for alleged links to Maoists following the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune in December 2017.