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Joint Statement: Freedom for Varavara Rao

Joint Statement: Freedom for Varavara Rao

By PEN International

As PEN Centres we wish to highlight the case of renowned Indian poet, Varavara Rao, to all those who care about the defense of freedom of expression for writers. We call for all charges to be dropped against Rao, and hope that you will join our campaign to ensure his freedom.
Varavara Rao is an 82-year-old poet and activist who was arrested in 2018 along with several other activists in India on charges of inciting violence under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). 
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Video: Justice for Mahesh Raut / New website launched: Justice for Mahesh

Video: Justice for Mahesh Raut / New website launched: Justice for Mahesh


hindi │ 1h 17min │2021

Video: Justice for Mahesh Raut

08/08/2021

By family and friends of Mahesh

Our friend Mahesh, is spending his fourth year in jail. Without trial! Who is Mahesh though? Why is his story important? And why is he a threat to the powers that are?
Join us for an evening where we will discuss all this and more. Friends, family, colleagues and journalists will talk about Mahesh and why he is still in jail.
We will also be launching a website which documents much of Mahesh’s story through this event.
We miss our friend and we really hope we will see #JusticeForMahesh very soon!
Watch video
Twitter: @justice4mahesh

New website launched: Justice for Mahesh


Visit Justice for Mahesh website

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is a blot on the nation

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is a blot on the nation

The Telegraph / by Prabhat Patnaik

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is a blot on the nation. In no nation reputed to be civilized is there a law that allows the State to pick up literally anybody and keep the person in jail for years, without trial and without bail; and, if, at the end of the trial, whenever it occurs, the person is found innocent, then there is no question of the State being obliged to pay any compensation for the lost years in the person’s life. But this is exactly what the UAPA does.
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PUDR report: Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy

PUDR report: Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Marking a month since Stan Swamy passed away in judicial custody in a private hospital, a month in which no official inquiry, even the mandated magisterial inquest, has not been initiated, Framed to die: The case of Stan Swamy documents the manner in which Stan Swamy was framed, fettered, and finally forced towards a fatal illness under due process of law called Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Framed to Die argues that Stan’s experiences of persecution provide an understanding of many others, including the 15 accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Beyond chronicling Stan’s persecution under law, Framed to Die documents why Comrade Stan was a dissenter and a true patriot and why the state feared and criminalized his dissent under the UAPA.

Download full report (45 pages) here

Bombay High Court Refuses To Stay Prison Transfer Order Of Bhima Koregaon Accused

Bombay High Court Refuses To Stay Prison Transfer Order Of Bhima Koregaon Accused

Bombay High Court Refuses To Stay Prison Transfer Order Of Bhima Koregaon Accused

06/08/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Friday observed that the accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case resisting their transfer out of Taloja Prison, despite repeatedly complaining about the prison authorities there, is confusing and paradoxical.
The bench refused to stay the transfer orders without hearing the State and adjourned the matter to Wednesday after the State sought time.
The court was seized with one plea filed by the kin of accused Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde, civil rights lawyer Surendra Gadling and activist Sudhir Dhawale’s friend. Tribal rights activist Mahesh Raut has filed the second plea.
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Victimized For Demanding Their Rights as Prisoners: Kin of Bhima Koregaon Move Bombay High Court Against Prison Transfer Orders

03/08/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The petition accuses Taloja’s previous Superintendent of initiating the transfers to cover up violations of the rights guaranteed under The Prisons Act, 1894
Kin of three accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case have approached the Bombay High Court challenging three orders to transfer ten accused out of Taloja Central Prison to any other prison in Maharashtra.
The petition states that Special NIA Judge DE Kothalikar’s orders, repeatedly permitting their transfers without issuing a notice, giving a hearing to them or recording reasons, violates principles of natural justice.
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Kin of Surendra Galding, Anand Teltumbde, Sudhir Dhawale move Bombay HC challenging transfer from Taloja jail

03/08/2021

Bar & Benach / by Neha Joshi

Immediate family members of Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018, have approached the Bombay High Court challenging the decision to transfer them out of Taloja Central Prison to any other “unspecified prison” in the State.
The petitioners said the Superintendent was attempting to transfer the accused, by dividing them and sending them to separate jails and it was “an act of victimization for having demanded their rights as prisoners.
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Koregaon Bhima Commission: Examination Of Ex-Cop Who Probed FIR Against Hindutva Leaders Begins

Koregaon Bhima Commission: Examination Of Ex-Cop Who Probed FIR Against Hindutva Leaders Begins

Hindutva Watch / by Chandan Haygunde

The Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Thursday started examination of a retired police officer Ganesh More, who had investigated the case against Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide.
More was attached to the Pune rural police as a sub-divisional officer (Daund) during the Koregaon Bhima violence on January 1 in which one person was killed and several others were injured. He retired in December 2018. He deposed as a witness on Thursday before the commission probing into the causes of the violence.
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Also read
India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan, Dec 2020)

Pegasus Findings: Former Top Cops Call For Relook at Case Against Elgar Parishad / Press Note

Pegasus Findings: Former Top Cops Call For Relook at Case Against Elgar Parishad / Press Note

Senior Retired Police Officers Say Cyber Hacking Operations Revealed in Bhima Koregaon Case and Pegasus Attack Have Serious Implications

05/08/2021

By Family and Friends of BK16

PRESS NOTE
Senior Retired Police Officers Say Cyber Hacking Operations Revealed in Bhima Koregaon Case and Pegasus Attack Have Serious Implications for Police Functioning, Rule of Law
“[Such practices] give a very wrong message to the police leaders” – Julio Ribeiro, retired DGP, Punjab and Gujarat

On a day when the Supreme Court heard petitions against the government’s refusal to inquire into the use of Pegasus spyware, three senior retired police officers addressed an online press conference raising serious concerns about the impact of surveillance and evidence planting. In the wake of clear proof of evidence planting emerging in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad cases, as well as the ongoing Pegasus revelations, Julio Ribeiro (former DGP, Punjab), Vikash Narain Rai (former DGP, Haryana) and SR Darapuri (former IG Police, Uttar Pradesh), said such revelations have serious implications for the rule of law and for the functioning of the country’s police. They criticised the government’s failure to investigate these crimes, and also called for the release of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case.

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Forensic Science Laboratory’s analysis unreliable: Rona Wilson’s advocate

Forensic Science Laboratory’s analysis unreliable: Rona Wilson’s advocate

Forensic Science Laboratory’s analysis unreliable: Rona Wilson’s advocate

05/08/2021

Gauri Lankesh News / by Gauri Lankesh News Desk

Since FSL did not rule out the tampering of the laptop and remained silent on the issue, the counsel said that the laboratory’s analysis remains unreliable.
Rona Wilson’s counsel on Monday told the Bombay High court that Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) failed to respond to the question  ‘whether Wilson’s hard disk was tampered with or not?’ Since FSL did not rule out the tampering of the laptop and chose to remain silent on the issue, the council said that the laboratory’s analysis remains unreliable.
Based on the reports published by US cyber forensic firm Arsenal Consulting, Wilson had moved the Bombay High court stating that there was tampering of evidence and his laptop was infiltrated with malware. Wilson thus asked for the charges against him to be dropped.
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Claims of evidence planted in device can be raised during trial: NIA to Bombay HC in Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen plea

04/08/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

“Much water has flown. Bail pleas have been heard and disposed of, they have even gone up to Supreme Court. The case is now posted for framing of charge and they want to stay the trial,” ASG Anil Singh argued.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that the allegation by Bhima Koregaon accused Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen that evidence was planted in their electronic devices, is an argument which can be raised before the trial court.
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Forensic Sciences Lab Doesn’t Rule Out Tampering Of Rona Wilson’s Laptop: Jaising To Bombay HC

04/08/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

… Arguing Wilson’s quashing petition under Article 226, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising submitted that FSL’s failure to respond to a specific question put by the then Investigating officer of the case: ‘whether Wilson’s hard disk was tampered with or not?’, indicates that their analysis is not reliable…
On Wednesday, Jaising submitted that the seizure of Wilson’s laptop was not secure as the ‘hash values’ of the electronic devices were not calculated. Moreover, his laptop was operated during the search in 2018, which was impermissible.
Read more


Bhima Koregoan case: NIA opposes quashing pleas of Rona Wilson

04/08/2021

Free Press Journal / by Urvi Mahajani

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the petitions filed by Rona Wilson, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, stating that it wasn’t maintainable because it entirely revolves around this theory of planting of evidence.
Wilson and other accused, Shoma Sen, have filed petitions in the HC seeking quashing of the case against them.
Read more


Also read: Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / Jul 18, 2021)

Bombay High Court Reserves Judgment In Sudha Bharadwaj’s Plea For Default Bail

Bombay High Court Reserves Judgment In Sudha Bharadwaj’s Plea For Default Bail

Bombay High Court Reserves Judgment In Sudha Bharadwaj’s Plea For Default Bail

04/08/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj’s default bail plea in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence case.
Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar heard Bharadwaj’s plea filed under sections 439, 482 and 167(2)(a)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Code read with section 43 D(2)of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The bench had earlier observed that the HC’s records were consistent with Bharadwaj’s RTI documents demonstrating that the Pune Judge was not notified as a Special Court under the NIA Act.
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Bombay HC reserves order in Sudha Bharadwaj default bail plea

04/08/2021

Bar & Bench/ by Neha Joshi

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict in the petition filed by lawyer and Bhima Koregaon accused Sudha Bharadwaj seeking default bail under Code of Criminal Procedure.
Bharadwaj had approached the High Court assailing two orders passed by Pune Sessions Judges on the ground that they had no jurisdiction to pass orders in the case.
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Five reasons why NIA is opposing Sudha Bharadwaj’s default bail plea in Bombay HC

02/08/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Additional Solicitor General appearing for the NIA made his submissions before Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar opposing the default bail plea.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the default bail application filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Sudha Bharadwaj (Sudha Bharadwaj v. State of Maharashtra & Anr).
Bharadwaj had moved the High Court challenging two orders passed by Pune Sessions Judges KD Vadane and RM Pande on the ground that they had no jurisdiction to pass orders in the case.
Read more


Also read: NIA opposes default bail pleas of eight accused (The Indian Express / July 25, 2021)

Book release: I am not a Silent Spectator. An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Book release: I am not a Silent Spectator. An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach

An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

04/08/2021

Indian Social Institute, Bangalore / by Stan Swamy

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

Access a free PDF copy of the book here


Video: Book release. I am not a Silent Spectator – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

03/08/2021


en / hindi | 2h | 2021

By Jamshedpur Jesuits

Release of Fr Stan Swamy’s Memoir at XISS, Ranchi, Jharkhand
03 August 2021

Watch video