A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday directed Bhima Koregaon case accused Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira to file their responses to applications moved by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking cancellation of their bail.

Special Judge Chakor S. Baviskar granted the accused time to submit their replies to the agency's pleas.

The NIA has alleged that Gonsalves and Ferreira violated the conditions of their bail by attending a gathering at the Mumbai Press Club on January 19, where several other accused persons in the case were also present. According to the agency, their participation in the event amounted to a breach of the terms imposed while granting bail.

The agency had earlier filed similar applications seeking cancellation of the bail granted to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj and Telugu poet Varavara Rao on the same grounds. Those proceedings remain pending before the court.

During Wednesday's hearing, the court also allowed NIA applications seeking issuance of proclamations against two absconding accused, Prakash alias Naveen alias Ritupan Goswami and Ganapathy alias Mupalla Laxman Rao.

The matter has been posted for further hearing on June 19, when the court is expected to take up several pending applications, including discharge pleas, requests for modification of bail conditions, applications concerning prison facilities, electronic evidence, and permissions for travel.

The Bhima Koregaon case relates to allegations of Maoist links and a larger conspiracy behind the violence that broke out near Pune on January 1, 2018. Sixteen individuals were arrested in connection with the case—nine by the Pune Police in 2018 and seven later by the NIA after it assumed charge of the investigation.

Jesuit priest and activist Father Stan Swamy, one of the accused, died in judicial custody in 2021. All remaining accused have since been granted bail by the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court.

The trial in the case has not yet commenced, as the court is still hearing discharge applications filed by the accused and charges have not been framed so far.