The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Monday that in taking cognizance of the charge sheet against lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and some others in the Elgar Parishad case in 2018, the sessions court in Pune did not cause any prejudice to the rights of the accused.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the NIA, told HC the NIA took over the case only in January, 2020, and, hence, there was nothing wrong in a sessions court and not a special court taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by Pune police and remanding Bharadwaj and others to custody. Singh made the submissions before a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar, which is hearing a plea filed by Bharadwaj seeking default bail.