Bhima Koregaon arrests: Gadling seeks court nod for cyber law course

Lawyer Surendra Gadling, one of the five people arrested in June this year in connection with the Elgar Parishad and Bhima-Koregaon violence case, moved an application Friday seeking the court's permission to pursue a diploma course in cyber law.

The Pune Police had arrested Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut on June 6 as part of its probe into the alleged Maoist connection to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31 last year.

Police, at the time, had alleged that inflammatory speeches at the event led to violence at Koregaon Bhima near Pune on January 1.

District and Sessions judge K D Vadane Friday asked the Yerawada jail authorities to file a reply to Gadling's application.

Gadling, in his application, stated that he wanted to pursue Diploma in Cyber Law from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

Gadling, Dhawale, Sen, Raut and Wilson were brought to the court Friday for a hearing on an application filed by the Yerawada Jail authorities, demanding that the arrested persons be shifted to other jails for security reasons.

Arguing his own case, Gadling also told court that he had not been provided the 10 books he had asked for despite court giving permission.

He claimed that the jail authorities had given him just two out of the list of 10 books and had misplaced the rest.

The prosecution, however, refuted the claim and told court that eight of the 10 books had been taken away by lawyers defending the accused.

Judge Vadane asked Gadling to file a fresh list of books and told the prosecution to file its say on the matter.

Gadling also sought the court's permission to file an affidavit in support of his wife's plea in the Supreme Court.

Gadling's wife, Minal, had moved the apex court on August 31 seeking to intervene in a petition filed by historian Romila Thapar and four others on August 29 against the arrest of the five persons.

The court Friday kept the hearings on the bail applications of Gadling and Sen as well as the Yerawada authorities' jail transfer plea for September 27.