MUMBAI: Weeks after seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday moved a special court seeking revocation of the bail granted to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, alleging that they violated the conditions of their release by attending a gathering at the Mumbai Press Club earlier this year.NIA moves to cancel Gonsalves, Ferreira bail in Elgar Parishad case (HT PHOTO)Special Judge Chakor S Baviskar directed Gonsalves (68) and Ferreira (53) to file their replies to the applications, which have been posted for further consideration on June 19. The two were arrested in August 2018 and remained in custody for nearly five years before the Supreme Court granted them regular bail in July 2023. The apex court ordered their release subject to conditions and observed that the prosecution would be at liberty to seek cancellation of bail in the event of any breach.The NIA applications stem from a Mumbai Press Club event held on January 19, which was attended by several accused in the case, including Gonsalves, Ferreira, Rao and Bharadwaj, who were all out on bail at the time. The NIA alleged that the programme had been convened to propagate the ideology of the banned CPI (Maoist) and discuss the future course of the “Urban Naxal” movement. The NIA has contended that their participation in the event, where they interacted with one another, amounted to a breach of the conditions attached to their bail.The agency had approached the same court on May 15 seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Telugu poet-activist Rao (85) and lawyer-activist Bharadwaj (65) over the same episode. Rao is currently out on medical bail granted by the Supreme Court, while Bharadwaj secured default bail from the Bombay high court in December 2021.During the hearing on those applications, Rao and Bharadwaj sought disclosure of the material relied upon by the agency to substantiate its allegation that they had breached the conditions of bail. Gonsalves and Ferreira, too, are expected to seek copies of the documents and other material relied upon by the NIA in support of its plea for cancellation of their bail when the matter is taken up on June 19, according to the defence.The Elgar Parishad case stems from an FIR registered after violence broke out near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018, during the bicentenary commemoration of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The investigators alleged that speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017, contributed to the violence and that the event had links to the banned CPI (Maoist). The accused have denied the allegations.In the same proceedings on Wednesday, the special court also ordered the issuance of proclamations against two alleged absconding accused, Prakash alias Ritupan Goswami and Ganapathy alias Mupalla Laxman Rao, after the NIA moved applications seeking the “coercive process”.