The Supreme Court has said it will hear advocate Surendra Gadling’s bail plea next week in the 2018 Elgar Parishad–Maoist links case. The hearing matters because the plea has reportedly remained pending since 2023 and has been delayed by recusals and repeated adjournments.
The case is relevant for UPSC because it sits at the intersection of criminal procedure, judicial delay, and internal security. It also highlights the difficulty of balancing individual liberty with prosecution in long-running security-related cases.
What happened now
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the bench that Surendra Gadling has been in jail for seven and a half years and sought an urgent hearing. The court was informed that notice on the bail plea had first been issued in 2023.
The bench said it would list the case within the next week or so. On 8 August 2025, senior advocate Anand Grover had urged an early hearing, saying the bail plea had been adjourned 11 times.
Background and earlier position
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