The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court has scheduled a hearing for October 14 regarding the pre-arrest bail plea of former state RSS chief Subhash Velingkar.
This decision follows Velingkar’s lawyer’s statement that he would appear before the police on Thursday.
Velingkar is facing allegations of “hurting religious sentiments” due to controversial remarks about St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of Goa, which sparked protests throughout the state. His anticipatory bail request was presented to the single bench of Justice B.P. Deshpande.
During the hearing, Velingkar’s lawyer expressed his client’s willingness to cooperate with the police, contingent upon an assurance that he would not be arrested. A lower court had previously denied his pre-arrest bail application on Monday.
The public prosecutor informed the High Court that Velingkar would not face arrest if he cooperated with the investigation. The judge then set the next hearing for October 14.
Additionally, four intervention petitions were submitted during Thursday’s proceedings.
Notably, AAP MLA Cruz Silva, represented by advocate Amit Palekar, as well as former Congress leader Valanka Alemao and party member Warren Alemao, were among those who filed petitions to intervene in the case.