Justice MM Sundresh Recuses From Hearing Surendra Gadling's Bail Plea In 2016 Gadchiroli Arson Case

Justice MM Sundresh of the Supreme Court recused himself from hearing the bail plea of Dalit rights activist and advocate Surendra Gadling in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case. The matter was listed today before a bench of Justice Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh.

The bail plea arises from a challenge to a Bombay High Court order that declined to release Gadling on bail in connection with the December 2016 incident in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

Gadling is booked under Sections 307, 341, 342, 435, 323, 504, 506, 143, 147, 148, 149 and 120(B) of the IPC, Sections 5 and 28 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959, Section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951 and Sections 16, 18, 20 and 23 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

According to the prosecution, Maoists allegedly set fire to over 80 vehicles transporting iron ore from Surjagarh mines in Etapalli tehsil. The prosecution alleged that Gadling had given directions to other accused to set the vehicles on fire and cause loss of property in the Surjagad incident.

The Nagpur bench rejected Gadling's bail application after determining that he was part of a conspiracy to abet terrorist acts, based on letters and a hard drive seized during the investigation. The Court determined that prima facie, Gadling wasn't merely the advocate of some members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), but was himself a formal member of the organization.

In 2023, the Supreme Court bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela Trivedi issued notice on Gadling's plea.

Gadling has been lodged in Taloja prison since June 2018 following his arrest in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, and was later arrested in February 2019 in connection with the Gadchiroli arson case.

The Bombay High Court in 2024 also rejected default bail applications filed by Gadling and co-accused Mahesh Raut in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case of 2018. Earlier, in December 2021, the High Court had granted default bail to co-accused Sudha Bharadwaj but rejected it for Gadling and eight others. Gadling's plea against that judgment is also pending before the Supreme Court. His bail plea in the Bhima Koregaon case was also listed befoere Justice Sundresh's bench on the last posting.

Case no. – Crl.A. No. 3742/2023 

Case Title – Surendra Pundalik Gadling v. State of Maharashtra