TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The Maharashtra Police’s move to arrest five well-known activists was punctured on Wednesday with the Supreme Court observing that “dissent is the safety valve of democracy” and directing that those in its custody be kept under house arrest.
The five human rights activists — Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonzalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha — who were arrested after the pan India crackdown yesterday will not be sent to jail but be under house arrest under police watch until September 6, the court ruled.
“Dissent is the safety valve of democracy and if you don’t allow these safety valves it will burst,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.
Dealing a blow to the Maharashtra police, the apex court questioned it for arresting the activists nine months after the violence between Dalits and upper caste Peshwas in Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune following the Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year. Provocative speeches were made at the Elgar Parishad, which triggered the violence, according to an FIR registered in a Pune police station.
