New Delhi: The Supreme Court denied bail on Thursday to activist Akhil Gogoi, who is lodged in a Guwahati jail after being arrested during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in Assam.
A bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose dismissed Gogoi’s bail plea, saying, “We will not consider the petition at this stage.”
The bench, however, told advocate Runamoni Bhuyan that the petitioner may approach the top court for bail once the trial starts.
Gogoi has challenged a January 7 order of the Gauhati high court, which rejected his bail plea in a case related to his alleged role in the violent protests against the CAA lodged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
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Krishak Mukti Sangram Parishad (KMSS) and Raijor Dal leader Gogoi is lodged in the Guwahati central jail since his arrest in December 2019. He was arrested on December 12, 2019 as a “preventive measure”, while protests against the CAA in the northeastern state raged on and resulted in violence at several places.
Gogoi’s case was subsequently handed over to the NIA.
Interestingly, Gogoi was granted bail on July 16 by the Gauhati high court in three cases filed by the Chabua police station in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district for his involvement in the anti-CAA protests. There were a total of 12 cases which were filed by the Assam Police against Gogoi.
Back in March, Gogoi was granted default bail by an NIA special court as the NIA was not able to file a chargesheet within the stipulated period of the 90 days since Gogoi was arrested.
(With PTI inputs)