The Bombay High Court has granted bail to five persons accused of plotting to bomb the Sunburn music festival in Pune in 2017.

The five men are: Sujit Rangaswami, Amit Baddi, Ganesh Miskin, Shrikant Pangarkar and Bharat Kurane. The High Court granted them bail on July 30, and the order was made public on August 5.

A bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande noted that the alleged conspiracy to bomb the festival was never executed.

The bench also cited prolonged incarceration without trial, insufficient evidence to establish a conspiracy and the presumption of innocence as reasons for the decision. Since September, no witnesses had been examined by the prosecution, which raises doubts about whether the trial would be completed in time, the court said.

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The five accused men were arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in Mumbai in 2018.

“We have noted that all the accused persons are arrested in the year 2018 and as on date, though the trial has commenced, only two witnesses have been examined and third witness is in the witness box, when the prosecution has cited the list of 417 witnesses,” the bench said.

The police accused the five men of being members of Hindutva groups Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti. They allegedly conspired to execute petrol and crude bomb blasts at the Sunburn festival in Pune to “send a strong message against Western music and culture”.

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The accused persons were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act, and the Maharashtra Police Act.

The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has alleged in its chargesheet that the accused persons were influenced by a book titled Kshatra Dharma Sadhana, which is published by the Sanatan Sanstha and calls on Hindus to establish a Hindu rashtra or Hindu nation.

In October, the High Court granted bail to Vaibhav Raut, another person accused of involvement in the case.