The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted three-day temporary bail to Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case of 2018 [Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor v National Investigation Agency]..A Bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Rajesh Patil granted temporary relief to Gaichor to enable him to visit his ailing 76-year-old father.The Court passed the order after noting that Gaichor had not been permitted to meet his father since his arrest over four years ago. The Court observed that Gaichor’s father was admitted to Global Hospital in Pune on June 26 for age-related ailments and was discharged the following day."Perusal of the records indicates that the appellant’s father is 76 years old and was admitted to Global Hospital, Yerwada, Pune on 26/6/2025 and was discharged on 27/6/2025. The appellant, since the date of arrest, was not allowed to meet his father for more than 4 years. In view thereof, we are permitting the appellant to be released on temporary bail for three days to enable him to meet his father," the Court said.Gaichor will be released from September 9 to September 11 upon depositing a cash security of ₹25,000 with the central prison authorities. The Court also waived any escort charges..Earlier, a special NIA court in Mumbai had denied interim bail to Gaichor on July 1. Gaichor had sought bail for two weeks to visit his father but the application was rejected by the special court on the ground that the medical documents of his father did not suggest any serious or urgent condition. Following this, Gaichor approached the Bombay High Court. Senior Advocate Mihir Desai, appearing for Gaichor, argued that Gaichor has not seen his father in over four years and that the lower court had failed to consider the humanitarian aspect of the request. Desai submitted that Gaichor sought bail only for a limited purpose and would comply with all terms and conditions.Advocate Sandesh Patil, representing NIA, opposed the plea. He stated that a substantive bail application was already pending before the High Court. However, he acknowledged that the discharge papers submitted appeared to be genuine and left it to the court to pass any appropriate orders.Gaichor is among the 16 activists arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. The case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, according to police, led to violence the following day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.Gaichor was arrested in September 2020.
