Supreme Court extends house capture of rights activists in Koregaon-Bhima violence till Sep 17

New Delhi, Sep 12 The Supreme Court Wednesday broadened the house capture of five rights activists who were captured in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case till September 17.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud deferred the hearing on the plea filed by historian Romila Thapar and four others to September 17 after it was presented that senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing the petitioners, was busy in another court

Prior, Singhvi appeared before the bench and submitted that the hearing on Thapar's plea be conducted after 12 pm as he has to appear in another matter

The court was hearing the plea filed against the arrest of the rights activists - Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha - for the situation

The Maharashtra police had arrested the five activists on August 28 regarding a FIR stopped after a meeting - 'Elgaar Parishad' - hung on December 31 a year ago that had later activated brutality at Koregaon-Bhima town

On August 29, the apex court ordered the house capture of the activists, saying "disagree is the safety valve of democracy".