MUMBAI: Three accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case on Thursday opposed the National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s plea seeking cancellation of their bail. They told a special court that they were unaware they had been invited together to a January event at the Mumbai Press Club, that they had merely attended it as invitees, and that bail could not be cancelled lightly in the absence of any deliberate or substantial breach of its conditions.3 accused oppose NIA’s plea to cancel their bail for attending press club eventPoet-activist Varavara Rao, activist Vernon Gonsalves and activist-lawyer Arun Ferreira filed separate replies before Special Judge Chakor S Baviskar, opposing the NIA’s applications seeking cancellation of their bail. The court took the replies on record and adjourned the matter to July 10 for hearing. Activist Sudha Bharadwaj, against whom the NIA has also sought cancellation of bail, is yet to file her reply.In his reply, Rao, through Advocate R Satyanarayanan, argued that he had merely accepted an invitation to dinner and had no role in convening the January 19 gathering. He contended that there was no material to suggest that any of the accused knew the others had also been invited or had attempted to contact or communicate with one another in violation of their bail conditions.The reply further challenged the NIA’s allegation that the gathering was intended to propagate the ideology of the banned CPI (Maoist), describing it as an assumption “at the most”, unsupported by the material collected during the inquiry.Rao pointed out that statements relied upon by the agency referred to discussions on prison conditions, the transfer of co-accused Gautam Navlakha to Delhi, the progress of the case against Surendra Gadling and the health of prisoners, and did not substantiate the prosecution’s allegations.Rao also argued that cancellation of bail was an “extraordinary remedy” that must be exercised “with great care and circumspection” and not in a “mechanical manner”, as it directly interfered with an accused’s liberty. He contended that none of the recognised grounds for cancelling bail, such as tampering with evidence, influencing witnesses, absconding or obstructing the investigation, were attracted in his case.The NIA has filed separate applications seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Bharadwaj, Rao, Gonsalves and Ferreira, alleging that they violated the conditions of their release by attending the January 19 programme at the Mumbai Press Club. The agency contends that their participation breached the conditions imposed while granting them bail and warrants cancellation of their release.The January event sparked controversy after the Mumbai Press Club suspended three of its members associated with organising the programme.The Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case arose out of an FIR registered following the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, and the violence that broke out the following day during commemorations at Bhima Koregaon. The investigation, initially conducted by the Pune police and later taken over by the NIA, led to the arrest of several activists, lawyers and academics under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over alleged Maoist links. The accused have denied the allegations.Bharadwaj was granted default bail by the Bombay high court in December 2021 after it found the sanction for her prosecution under UAPA defective. Rao was granted medical bail by the Supreme Court in 2022, while Gonsalves and Ferreira secured regular bail from the apex court in July 2023 after spending nearly five years in custody without a trial.