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Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA court claims lack of incriminating evidence

Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA court claims lack of incriminating evidence

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The matter will now be heard on May 17.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, presided by special judge Rajesh Kataria, on Tuesday heard a discharge application filed by women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen, claiming lack of incriminating evidence against her in the  Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
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Also Read:
Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / Apr 2023)
Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)
Bombay HC asks Elgar Parishad accused Prof Shoma Sen to first approach trial court for bail (India Today / Jan 2023)

Sagar Gorkhe allowed to appear for law entrance exam

Sagar Gorkhe allowed to appear for law entrance exam

Sagar Gorkhe

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

“The applicant shall be given a waiver for the escort charges. The applicant shall not misuse the permission granted to the applicant vide this order,” the court noted.
A special court in Mumbai on Friday allowed Elgaar Parishad case accused Sagar Gorkhe to attend a Law entrance exam.
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SC directs Gautam Navlakha to pay INR 8 lakhs as cost of deploying police for his house arrest

SC directs Gautam Navlakha to pay INR 8 lakhs as cost of deploying police for his house arrest

Gautam Navlakha

Supreme Court directs Gautam Navlakha to pay INR 8 lakhs as cost of deploying police for his house arrest

28/04/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The NIA has been directed by the court to file a counter affidavit on Navlakha’s plea for change of place of house arrest to another part of Mumbai.
On Friday, the Supreme Court directed Gautam Navlakha to pay INR 8 lakhs towards the cost of deploying police personnel for his house arrest, which was granted to him by the court in November last year.
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Supreme Court Asks Gautam Navlakha To Deposit Rs 8 Lakhs Towards Surveillance And Security Expenses For House Arrest

28/04/2023

Live Law / by Sohini Chowdhury

The Supreme Court, on Friday, directed human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, to deposit Rs 8 lakhs to meet the expenses of surveillance and costs as indicated in its order dated 10.11.2022.
On 10th November, 2022 the Court ordered to move Navlakha, 73, from Taloja Central Prison to house arrest, considering his advanced age and multiple multiple ailments. In that order, the court had recorded that while he was on house arrest, the expense of surveillance, approximately Rs. 2.4 lakhs, would be borne by Navlakha himself.
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Also read:
Gautam Navlakha moves SC seeking change of address for house arrest (The Telegraph / April 2023)
Explainer: As activist Gautam Navlakha is allowed house arrest, what does this actually involve? (Scroll.in / Nov 2022)

Can Varavara Rao get free cataract surgery in Hyderabad? High Court seeks NIA response

Can Varavara Rao get free cataract surgery in Hyderabad? High Court seeks NIA response

Varavara Rao

Bombay HC asks NIA to verify claim by Varavara Rao that he will get free cataract treatment in Hyderabad

27/04/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Rao made the claim in his application seeking permission to go to Hyderabad from Mumbai for three months to undergo cataract surgery.
The Bombay High Court Thursday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to verify the claim made by Bhima Koregaon violence accused Dr. P Varavara Rao that State of Telangana would provide free cataract treatment to him.
Single-judge Justice Amit Borkar opined that this was the crux of Rao’s plea, and if the claim made by Rao was factually incorrect, then the complexion of the matter would change.
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Can Varavara Rao get free cataract surgery in Hyderabad? HC seeks NIA response

27/04/2023

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

In February 2021, the HC granted Rao medical bail for six months. Though it was extended from time to time, the high court in April 2022 rejected his prayer for permanent bail and asked him to surrender within three months.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to claims by Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, who is an accused in Elgar Parishad case that he can get cataract surgery done free-of-cost in Hyderabad, Telangana.
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Also read:
Bombay High Court seeks response from NIA on plea by Varavara Rao to undergo cataract surgery at Hyderabad (Bar & Bench / Jan 5, 2023)
Can’t Allow Varavara Rao To Stay In Hyderabad For Three Months For Cataract Treatment, Will Delay Framing of Charges: NIA Court (Scroll.in / Sep 2022)

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail

Shoma Sen

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The Bombay High Court, in its order dated January 17, had refused to examine the correctness of the order of the trial court that rejected her bail application.
A special leave petition, filed by women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen challenging the order of the Bombay High Court on her bail plea, is listed to be heard on May 4. The petition was mentioned by senior advocate Anand Grover before a division Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India Dr D.Y. Chandrachud, on Wednesday.
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Also Read:
Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)
Bombay HC asks Elgar Parishad accused Prof Shoma Sen to first approach trial court for bail (India Today / Jan 2023)

Gautam Navlakha moves HC against NIA court’s rejection of bail plea

Gautam Navlakha moves HC against NIA court’s rejection of bail plea

Gautam Navlakha moves HC against NIA court’s rejection of bail plea

27/04/2023

The Indian Express / by The Indian Express

Navlakha, who was arrested on April 14, 2020, has been incarcerated since then. Since November, he has been under house arrest in Navi Mumbai.
Elgaar Parishad case accused Gautam Navlakha recently approached the Bombay High Court with a fresh appeal challenging a special NIA court’s order that had rejected his bail application earlier this month. Navlakha’s previous bail plea, filed before the special court, was rejected last September. Following this, he had filed an appeal before the Bombay High Court.
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Gautam Navlakha moves HC for bail again

27/04/2023

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

Last year, he had filed an appeal in HC when the special court rejected his bail application in September 2022.
Mumbai: Gautam Navlakha, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad case has approached the Bombay high court for a second time and appealed against the rejection of his bail application by a special NIA court earlier this month. Last year, he had filed an appeal in HC when the special court rejected his bail application in September 2022.
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Also read:
Bombay HC quashes order rejecting bail plea of Navlakha by special court, orders expeditious rehearing (Sabrang / March 2023)
Will the bail granted to Anand Teltumbde help others in the Bhima Koregaon case to get out of jail? (Scroll.in / Nov 2022)

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated in Bagaicha / Fellowship for rights defenders

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated in Bagaicha / Fellowship for rights defenders

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated at his center

26/04/2023

Matters India / by P M Antony

Bagaicha, April 26, 2023: Friends and associates of late Jesuit social scientist Father Stan Swamy on April 26 observed his 86th birth anniversary at a center he founded near Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
Father Stan, as he was popularly known, died on July 5, 2021, as an undertrial prisoner at Mumbai, western India.
For his 86th birth anniversary, about 70 friends of Stan gathered at Bagaicha to cherish his memories, works and get energized and inspired by his life and works towards creating a more just and democratic society.
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Father Stan Swamy’s acquaintances launch fellowship for rights defenders

28/04/2023

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

‘Most of us are aware of Stan Swamy’s work and contribution to defending human rights, especially the Adivasis’ right to jal, jungle aur zameen’
Friends and acquaintances of Father Stan Swamy have on his birth anniversary launched a fellowship for rights defenders like him and individuals involved in social work.
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by Cedric Prakash / @CedricPrakash (April 26, 2023)
Today birth anniversary of #stanswamy He is fondly remembered by many as a brother, friend, mentor, guide, companion, human rights defender, crusader for justice & more! He was institutionally murdered on 5 Jul 2021; he will never die he LIVES in the hearts of many FOREVER !

Earthly Birthday Greetings to Stan Swamy in Heaven

26/04/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

Dear Stan,
It is your birthday today here on earth! You would have completed eighty-six years, if you were around. Well, that was not to be; on 5 July 2021 you were murdered by a brutal and fascist regime, which did not want a human rights defender like you to continue living! This is your second earthly birthday up above. Not sure how you will be celebrating it!

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Swamy and Friends: A Poem by Keki Daruwala

26/04/2023

LiveWire / by Keki N. Daruwalla

This poem was originally published on July 9, 2021 and is being republished on April 26, 2023.

Beyond the Gangetic plain and the Jumna,
they had their world,  women dancing in the night
tapping their earth-and-sky-world into rhythm;
their days ruled by taboo and totem
long before Freud had  heard of them;
cults flowered, and shamans held the long stick

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Indian Jesuit who died in jail hailed for exemplary life

26/04/2023

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

84-year-old Father Stan Swamy was arrested on false charges and denied bail despite suffering from multiple ailments
The birth anniversary of Father Stan Swamy was observed in India by exhorting the youth to follow the Indian Jesuit priest’s path of dedicating life to the poor indigenous people.
“Usually, after death, one is buried. But Father Swamy was sown. His ideals and sacrifices have to be taught to people,” said Justice K Chandru, a retired Madras High Court judge in Tamil Nadu, the home state of Father Swamy.
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Podcast: Living inside prison is a dehumanising experience | Sudha Bharadwaj

Podcast: Living inside prison is a dehumanising experience | Sudha Bharadwaj


en + hindi | 37:45min | 2023

CJP / by CJP Team

Episode 19 of CJP’s Podcast Series RightsCast
Over the past three decades, Sudha Bharadwaj has served the most marginalized sections of this country as a trade unionist, activist and lawyer. Among 16 activists and academics arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, she was the first to be granted default bail after more than three years in prison.
Listen to her about living in jail and discovering the harsh reality of women in Indian prisons on this exclusive podcast.
Listen to the podcast


Also watch/read:

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022

en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails.
Watch video

‘Buzz of a Mosquito… But With the Sound of Grief’: The Lives of India’s Women Prisoners (The Wire / March 2021)

Sagar Gorkhe seeks permission to appear for law entrance test

Sagar Gorkhe seeks permission to appear for law entrance test

Sagar Gorke. Pic: Kabir Kala Manch

Free Press Journal / by FPJ News Service

The accused is accused by the prosecution to be a member of Kabir Kala Manch, which it claims is a frontal organisation of the banned terror outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Cultural activist Sagar Gorkhe has moved a special court conducting the Bhima-Koregaon case in which he is an accused, the permission to appear for the common entrance test for a three-year law course.
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Also read/watch:

● Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020

Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.

Watch their statement

Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)

Gautam Navlakha moves SC seeking change of address for house arrest

Gautam Navlakha moves SC seeking change of address for house arrest

Gautam Navlakha

The Telegraph / by pti

The bench was told by counsel for the activist, that the place, where he is under house arrest, is a public library and needs to be vacated
Activist Gautam Navlakha Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking to be shifted from the public library in Mumbai, where he is under house arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to some other place in the city.
Navlakha’s counsel told a bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna that the public library needed to be vacated.
Read more


Also read:
Explainer: As activist Gautam Navlakha is allowed house arrest, what does this actually involve? (Scroll.in / Nov 2022)
All I ask is an hour to breathe in fresh air, soak in sun, rights activist Gautam Navlakha in plea (Free Press Journal / Dec 2021)