NEW DELHI: Two days after the Supreme Court said “dissent is the safety valve of democracy” and ordered house arrest of five human rights activists, five people arrested earlier for the Elgar Parishad, a day before the Koregaon Bhima violence, moved the SC on Friday and sought parity in treatment.

Moving the court on behalf of the five — advocate Surendra Gadling, Soma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhavale — Gadling’s wife Minal said, “The persons about whom this application is filed are similarly situated and booked under the same crime without there being any credible evidence. These persons are also arrested under the same Pune FIR, crime No.04/2018, registered with Vishrambaug police station, under the same allegations and charges.”

She added, “Extend the benefit of the order of August 29 pending final disposal of the bail application on the ground that the action was unlawful, and in any event they are entitled to bail.”

On Thursday, a bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had warned against muzzling dissent in democracy before ordering Maharashtra police to keep the arrested human right activists and lawyers — Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha , P Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves — confined to their homes till September 6 and not take them to jails.

