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What NIA draft charges submitted in court say, against whom

What NIA draft charges submitted in court say, against whom

What NIA draft charges submitted in court say, against whom

25/08/2021

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The NIA has proposed to charge all the accused under 16 sections of the law. Charges under some additional sections have been proposed against some accused in accordance with the specific roles that they are alleged to have played.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted draft charges before a special court in Mumbai against 15 arrested accused and six absconding accused in the Elgar Parishad case.
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NIA Submits Draft Charges in Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Case: Read Details

23/08/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The NIA Draft Charges find mention of a common objective to establish ‘People’s Government’ through revolution & protracted arms struggle and an attempt to cause the death of a public functionary.
The National Investigation Agency submitted a list of seventeen draft (proposed) charges against the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Case accused, including the charge of waging a war against the country, which is punishable with death.
The draft charges don’t mention a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as claimed in 2018 but mention “cause the death of a public functionary.”
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Seventeen proposed charges by NIA against accused

22/08/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The January 2018 FIR registered after the alleged riots post the ’Elgar Parishad’ event forms the basis of the entire Bhima Koregaon case which led to arrest of 16 accused, and the 3 chargesheets.
Fifteen of the accused in the case are in judicial custody while five are absconding. One accused, Father Stan Swamy passed away while in custody.
The charges state that the accused (including Swamy) were active members of a banned terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) even prior to 2018.
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Also read: Bhima Koregaon Accused Approach Bombay High Court To Stay Trial Till Clone Copies of Electronic Evidence Is Provided (Live Law, Aug 20)

8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail

8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail

Sessions court had no power to take cognisance of pleas: Accused in Elgar Parishad case seek default bail

24/08/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The lawyer for the accused submitted that as the orders of remand, authorising custody were ‘illegally’ passed by the sessions judge and the same could not be sustained, they may be released on default bail.
Eight accused in the Elgar Parishad case, while challenging the September 2019 order of the Pune Sessions court rejecting their default bail pleas, told the Bombay High Court that persons booked for scheduled offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) had to be produced before special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court and the sessions judge had no power to take cognisance of their pleas.
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8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail

23/08/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The eight accused who have moved the Court are Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
Eight accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case have moved the Bombay High Court challenging the decision of the Pune Sessions Judge to take cognizance of chargesheet against them and to quash the criminal proceedings (Sudhir Dhawale & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.).
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Also read: Is Cognizance By Pune Sessions Court In Bhima Koregaon Case Void? Bombay High Court Reserves Judgment In Sudha Bharadwaj’s Plea For Default Bail (Live Law, Aug 4)

Special NIA Court Rejects Interim Bail Pleas Of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha

Special NIA Court Rejects Interim Bail Pleas Of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha

Special NIA Court Rejects Interim Bail Pleas Of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha

24/08/2021

Live Law / by Live Law News Network

The Special NIA Court has rejected temporary bail pleas of professor Anand Teltumbde and journalist Gautam Navlakha, accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence Case.
In their applications sent directly from prison, the two sought to be released temporarily citing their age and vulnerability to Covid-19. The pleas were filed pursuant to directions from the jail administration asking all inmates above 60 years to apply for interim bail due to the pandemic.
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NIA Court refuses temporary bail to activist Gautam Navlakha

23/08/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Navlakha had sought temporary bail relying upon the guidelines issued by the High Power Committee for decongestion of prisons in light of the COVID pandemic.
The Special Court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act has refused temporary bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha.
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Accused activists seek default bail claiming sessions court had no jurisdiction

23/08/2021

Midday / by pti

The petitioners are Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves, and Arun Ferreira
Seven activists and academics accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case told the Bombay High Court, the Pune sessions court, which remanded them to custody following their arrest and also took cognisance of the police’s chargesheet in 2019, had no jurisdiction to do so and sought a default bail.
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Newswire’s special issue dedicated to Father Stan Swamy / AILAJ’s August issue

Newswire’s special issue dedicated to Father Stan Swamy / AILAJ’s August issue

Newswire – A special issue dedicated to Father Stan Swamy

22/08/2021

By India Civil Watch

Here’s what you will find inside Newswire 9
1. Spotlight: South Asian Dalit Adivasi Network (SADAN), Canada
2. Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Interview with Rana Khan
3. The Compassionate Revolution of Saint Stan Swamy (1937 – 2021), Shaj Mohan and Divya Dwivedi
4. Under the Mango tree, Madhumita Dutta
5. Stan Swamy in the eyes of a Thirteen Year old, Ananya Mamatha Anil
6. This Month in History, Balmurli Natarajan
7. Poetry!
Download here

AILAJ’s August issue

19/08/2021

By All India Lawyers´Association for Justice (A)

AILAJ’s August issue is out! It has pieces on Pegasus, UAPA, Father Stan Swamy and the plight of prisoners in light of the pandemic. It also contains all the representations AILAJ has made to various judicial and state functionaries.

Download here

Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry postpones hearings in Mumbai

Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry postpones hearings in Mumbai

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has postponed its hearings in Mumbai, earlier scheduled to be held between August 23 and August 25, due to the unavailability of a large place to enforce Covid-19 protocols.
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Also read: Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan, Dec 2020)

India Must Stop Criminalising the Defence of Human Rights: UN Special Rapporteur

India Must Stop Criminalising the Defence of Human Rights: UN Special Rapporteur


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Mary Lawlor speaks to The Wire about the situation of human rights defenders in the country, the use of repressive laws by the government and more.
On May 1, 2020, Mary Lawlor, a Dublin-based human rights expert with over four decades of experience engaging in human rights work, took up the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) at the United Nations. Along with her work globally, Lawlor has been closely following the deteriorating human rights conditions in India and feels the country has repeatedly failed to protect the rights and interests of HRDs in the country.
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Also read: Pegasus Reports Highlight Need for Better Regulation of Spyware: UN Rights Chief (The Wire, Aug 20)

Opposition to Hold Joint Protests across India against Modi Govt from September 20 to 30

Opposition to Hold Joint Protests across India against Modi Govt from September 20 to 30

The Wire / by pti

The Opposition’s demands include an SC-monitored probe into the Pegasus issue and a high-level probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal, a repeal of three farm laws and early polls in J&K.
The leaders of 19 Opposition parties announced on Friday that they will organise joint protests and demonstrations across the country from September 20 to 30, even as they urged people to save India for a better tomorrow.
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Their full statement

…
10. Release all political prisoners, including those under draconian UAPA in Bhima Koregaon case and anti-CAA protests.

Click to enlarge

Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha move Bombay HC for clone copies of devices seized

Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha move Bombay HC for clone copies of devices seized

Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha move Bombay HC for clone copies of devices seized

20/08/2021

Bar and Bench / by Neha Joshi

The accused moved the High court challenging an order of the Special NIA Court refusing their application for cloned copies of the data seized by the NIA.
Bhima Koregaon accused Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha have approached the Bombay High Court seeking clone copies of all devices seized from them by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
NIA had submitted draft charges and the special court has kept the matter for framing of charges on August 23, 2021.
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Accused Approach Bombay HC To Stay Trial Till Clone Copies of Electronic Evidence Is Provided

20/08/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case have approached the Bombay High Court to stay the trial or defer the framing of charges until clone copies of all the electronic devices seized are provided to the defence.
Accused Sudha Bharadwaj and journalist Gautam Navalakha have sought HC’s indulgence after the National Investigation Agency submitted the draft charges before the Special NIA Court against the 15 accused on August 9.
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Father Stan Swamy Has Right To Have His Name Cleared: Jesuits Approach Bombay High Court

Father Stan Swamy Has Right To Have His Name Cleared: Jesuits Approach Bombay High Court

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The petitioners state that the Special NIA Court’s observations while refusing bail to Stan Swamy amount to preliminary findings of guilt, which the High Court can set aside.
Late tribal-rights activist Father Stan Swamy’s counsel and kin have urged the Bombay High Court to clear the odium attached to his name and reputation due to his arrest in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence case.
“Article 21 (Right to dignity) of the Constitution equally applies to deceased persons and just as the Appellant(Father Swamy) would have had a right o clear his name if he were alive, similarly those closest to him would have a similar right to clear his name,” Senior counsel Advocate Mihir Desai said on behalf of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, which is seeking to pursue Stan Swamy’s case as his next of kin.
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