Not A Crackdown On Dissent, Says SC

Rejects SIT probe into activists arrest

- Krishnadas Rajagopal

The Supreme Court, in a majority opinion on Friday, held that the pan­India crackdown and arrests of five activists in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case on August 28 was not an attempt to silence dissent.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar shared the majority view on a three­-judge Bench that material evidence did not show that the “different political ideology” of the activists had triggered the police action against them.

“Upon perusal of the material, we are of the considered opinion that it is not a case of arrest because of mere dissenting views expressed or difference in the political ideology of the named accused, but concerning their link with the members of the banned organisation and its activities,” Justice Khanwilkar, who wrote the opinion, noted.