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Month: June 2020

Statement in support for the Bhima Koregaon 12 Activist

Statement in support for the Bhima Koregaon 12 Activist

Samaj Weekly / by 21 Organizations

We, the undersigned twenty-one organizations, strongly condemn the shameful imprisonment of India’s finest public intellectuals and social justice defenders, Dr. Anand Teltumbde and Mr. Gautam Navalakha who’ve been in custody since April 14, 2020. Dr. Teltumbde & Mr. Nalvlakha join nine others – journalists, lawyers, writers, academics & organizers- Surendra Gadling, Arun Fereira, Vernon Gonsalves, Mahesh Raut, Sudha Bharadwaj, Dr. Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Varavara Rao- who have been imprisoned in the same fabricated Bhima-Koregaon case.
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Unwilling to Give Delhi High Court Details of Navlakha’s ‘Hasty Transfer’, NIA Gets SC Stay

Unwilling to Give Delhi High Court Details of Navlakha’s ‘Hasty Transfer’, NIA Gets SC Stay

The Wire / by The Wire Analysis

After failing to raise jurisdictional issues earlier and undertaking to submit an affidavit on its handling of the matter, the government now says a single judge of the Delhi high court has no locus to hear a plea for interim bail under the NIA Act.
New Delhi: In a move that pits one constitutional court against another, the National Investigation Agency on Tuesday chose to rush to the Supreme Court for a stay rather than comply with an order by Justice Anup Bhambhani of the Delhi high court asking for the complete record of the process it had followed in moving Gautam Navlakha to Mumbai in a “frantic hurry”.
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Indian Americans Forum concerned about Varavara Rao’s health

Indian Americans Forum concerned about Varavara Rao’s health

Siasat.com / by Indian Americans Forum

Chicago: Indian Americans Forum is concerned about the recent news of renowned poet Varavara Rao’s health. Varavara Rao, age 81 who is a well known activist, writer, poet and lecturer got arrested 1.5 years ago in the alleged Elgar Parishad case which is still in trial.
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SC Stays Gautam Navlakha’s Bail Proceedings Before Delhi High Court

SC Stays Gautam Navlakha’s Bail Proceedings Before Delhi High Court

Live.law / by Sanya Talwar & Nilashish Chaudhary

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings in the Gautam Navlakha’s bail proceedings before Delhi High Court. The Court was hearing an appeal filed by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) against a May 27 order of the Delhi High Court whereby it directed the agency to furnish a complete record of the proceedings before the NIA Special Judges based on which he was transferred to Mumbai.
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SC SEEKS REPLY OF GAUTAM NAVLAKHA ON NIA’S PLEA

The Times of India / by PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday sought response from civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha on NIA plea challenging Delhi high court order seeking records of judicial proceedings before special courts in the national capital and Mumbai in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Varavara Rao discharged from hospital, sent back to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai

Varavara Rao discharged from hospital, sent back to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai

The Indian Express / Express News Service

Hospital superintendent Sanjay Surase said that Varavara Rao was discharged after he was declared “fit” and that he was admitted due to “giddiness”.
Poet and academician P Varavara Rao was discharged from JJ hospital in Mumbai on Monday and shifted back to Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai. The 80 year old, booked in the Elgaar Parishad case, was rushed to hospital on Thursday after he fell unconscious in the jail.
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Denying bail in Elgaar Parishad case to political prisoners is callous: PUCL

Denying bail in Elgaar Parishad case to political prisoners is callous: PUCL

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

‘In COVID-19 times, especially when Maharashtra has emerged as the State with the highest number of cases, differentially treating bail petitions by political prisoners is gross injustice’.
The denial of bail to all accused in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case was “patently callous”, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said on Monday, and urged that the health and safety of political prisoners be treated with the same urgency as other prisoners.
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PUDR: The Lessons of Bhima Koregaon Case: No Bail, Only Jail

01/06/2020

Kractivism / by PUDR

With the surrenders of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha on April 14, 2020 in Mumbai and Delhi respectively, the NIA, the investigative agency, has ensured the arrest of all 11 prominent human rights activists in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case under the draconian UAPA. The recent rejection of the bail applications of Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj, and the sudden transfer of Gautam Navlakha by the NIA, raise significant questions about the rights of political prisoners amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Injustice In The Courts: Four Indian Laws That Should Have Never Existed

Injustice In The Courts: Four Indian Laws That Should Have Never Existed


Drawing by Fathima Z. B.

Maktoobmedia.com / by Mrinal Sharma, Amnesty International India

First published May 6, 2020
The criminal justice system loses credibility when people are detained for no good reason. In India, this happens frequently under many laws, where journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, and students are arrested just for being critical of the government.
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