Koregaon caste riots: SC dismisses Ekbote's anticipatory bail plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of prominent Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote, who is accused of instigating the Bhima-Koregaon caste violence of January 1.

A bench of Justice M.B. Lokur, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Deepak Gupta dismissed Ebote's plea after Maharashtra government objected to his plea saying he was the main person who instigated the mob that injured 177 persons in the incident.

Rejecting his anticipatory bail plea, the bench remarked: "You are creating communal violence. What is this? You are spreading communal disharmony."

The Maharashtra government sought dismissal of Ekbote's anticipatory bail plea, saying he has not been cooperating in the investigation by giving improbable or unscrupulous information which cannot be by any stretch of imagination relied upon. 

On February 7, the apex court had granted Ekbote protection from arrest till February 20 and asked the state government to file its response on his plea. On the last date of hearing, the court had extended the interim protection till March 14.

A case was registered against Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, who head the Hindu Ekta Aghadi and Shivraj Pratishthan respectively, for allegedly inciting violence on January 1 that left a man dead near Bhima Koregaon.

They were accused of instigating, planning and orchestrating the violence during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Anglo-Maratha War in which the army of Peshwa Bajirao II, was defeated by a small force of the East India Company that comprised a large number of Dalits.