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Bombay High Court reserves order on Mahesh Raut’s bail plea

Bombay High Court reserves order on Mahesh Raut’s bail plea

Mahesh Raut’s bail plea reserved for judgment on September 21

12/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Additional Solicitor General of India Devang Girish Vyas, representing the NIA, argued that as an active member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), Mahesh Raut recruited members and received funds to further its activities, and he was a participant in the Elgar Parishad event that had led to violence. 
… With the conclusion of arguments on both sides, the matter is reserved for judgment on September 21.
Read more

Bombay High Court reserves order on Mahesh Raut’s bail plea

13/09/2023

India Today / by Vidya

Division bench of Bombay High Court has reserved its order on activist Mahesh Raut’s bail plea in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case. The order will be issued on September 21.
The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, reserved its verdict on the bail plea of activist Mahesh Raut, who stands accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
Advocate Mihir Desai, representing Raut, cited several high court and Supreme Court orders where Raut’s co-accused were granted bail and argued that his case is on par with theirs.
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HC reserves its order in Elgar accused’s bail plea

13/09/2023

The Times of India / by Swati Deshpande

Bombay high court on Tuesday reserved for orders a bail plea filed by Mahesh Raut, a 34 year old researcher from Chandrapur, accused in the January 2018 Elgar Parishad case. The HC bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh said it would pass orders on September 21 or by September 26.
Read more

Mahesh Raut bail plea seeks parity with Dr Anand Teltumbde’s

11/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Senior advocate Mihir Desai, appearing on behalf of Mahesh Raut, took the court through material cited by the National Investigation Agency, claiming lack of evidence against Raut. Desai sought parity with judgments granting bail to other co-accused persons— Dr Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira. 
On Monday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Sharmila U. Deshmukh heard the bail plea of forest rights activist Mahesh Raut.
Read more

Also read:
● Gonsalves and Ferreira bail judgment: A step in the right direction but where will we go from here? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Why the Bombay High Court granted regular bail to Dr. Anand Teltumbde: An explainer (The Leaflet / Dec 2022)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents / by Neema Pathak Broome and Mahesh Raut / June 2017)

Indian Democracy Is Facing an Existential Crisis: Progressive Writers’ Association / Repackaged Laws

Indian Democracy Is Facing an Existential Crisis: Progressive Writers’ Association / Repackaged Laws

‘Indian Democracy Is Facing an Existential Crisis’: Progressive Writers’ Association

09/09/2023

The Wire / by The Wire Staff | Progressive Writers’ Association

“It is the duty of literature to stand for the downtrodden, the oppressed, the underprivileged, whether an individual or a group.”
Between August 20 and 22, the Progressive Writers’ Association held its 18th annual conference in Jabalpur. At the end of the conference, the PWA adopted a declaration in which it discussed the threats to democracy, equality and secularism in India – ideals with the Association see themselves as guardians of.
„… Increasing discrimination and atrocities on women, tribals and Dalits is the natural consequence of the proud superiority of the Manuwadi ideology of majoritarianism. This text can be read from Una and Hathras to Bhima Koregaon…“
Read the full declaration

Repackaged Laws for Decolonization Game

10/09/2023

News Click / by Suhit K Sen

Official anti-colonial rhetoric lacks substance and creates the basis for a more authoritarian order.
On the eve of the 77th Independence Day this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah tabled in the Lok Sabha Bills to amend three colonial-era codes on which the criminal justice system rests, spinning this as a belated blow in favour of decolonisation.
… Though the presumption of innocence remains at the heart of the criminal justice system, its perversions remain—not created by the current regime but relentlessly misused by it.
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The many ideas behind the birth of poetry that floats like a butterfly; and stings like a bee

07/09/2023

Hindustan Times / by Ramu Ramanathan

The turning point of Telugu literary history is 3 and 4 July of 1970. Poets who were invited to speak at the seminar/ poets who were not invited to the seminar/ poets who were going to be felicitated/ poets who were expelled/ poets who were going to boycott/ poets who were to be a member of the executive committee/ poets of all ideologies and -isms
Read more

Three years have passed since Ramesh, Jyoti and Sagar were arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case

Three years have passed since Ramesh, Jyoti and Sagar were arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case

By Kabir Kala Manch via fb

… Three years have passed today since Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe, the three artists and activists of Kabir Kala Mancha were arrested in the false case of Bhima Koregaon without any evidence under UAPA …
#FreeAllBK16
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners
Read more [Marathi]


by Apeksha Priyadarshini / @apeksha_9 (Sep 9)
Three Years of Injustice!
Free People’s Artists Jyoti, Ramesh and Sagar!
Free All Activists wrongfully incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case!
Repeal UAPA!
#FreeBK15 #baso


by ajay kasbe / @journalistajay_ (Sep 8)
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #freeBk16 #releasesagar #releasejyoti #releaseramesh #bhimakoregaon #jaybhim #jaibheem

Also read/watch:
● Supreme Court asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) – A short documentary on Kabir Kala Manch | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn (article 14 / March 2022)
● Who are the three Kabir Kala Manch artistes arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case this week? (Scroll.in / Sep 2020)

Amnesty International: Join The Vigil For Political Prisoners In India

Amnesty International: Join The Vigil For Political Prisoners In India


by Amnesty International UK South Asia Action / @AIUKSouthAsia (Sep 14)
16 lawyers, academics & activists were imprisoned for their criticism of the government and their work supporting the poorest people in #India, including those from low caste, ethnic and religious minority groups. See our Minehead local group supporting the #BK16 at the G20 vigil


India Labour Solidarity (ILS) / @IndLabSol (Sep 9)
Yesterday we took part in the protest in London to #FreeBK16
While world leaders meet in Delhi for the G20, Indian human rights defenders are in prison.

By Amnesty International India coordination group

Fri 8 September, 19.30-20.30hrs.
Behind Amsterdam central station, promenade next to bicycle parking and ferries

Amnesty International India coordination group invites you to join a vigil for political prisoners (BK16, GN Saibaba, Umar Khalid and co-accused). As India hosts G20 this weekend we call on world leaders to urge Indian government to free them all!
There will be parallel actions in Amsterdam, London, Zürich, Berlin and New York!

by Amnesty Bristol / @amnestybristol (Sep 6, 2023)
Bristol and Weston-super-Mare Amnesty group are hosting a vigil on Friday at 7pm for the Bhima Koregaon 16 political prisoners Join us at the Italian Gardens in Weston-super-Mare #FreeBK16

Statement by Amnesty International Switzerland:
G20 IN INDIEN – EIN AUFRUF ZUM GEMEINSAMEN ENGAGEMENT

Read full statement [Swiss-German]

Also read:
● Campaign by Amnesty International: Act now to demand the release of the BK16! (Dec 2022)

NIA asked to submit a chart with details of copies of evidence supplied and yet to be supplied to the accused

NIA asked to submit a chart with details of copies of evidence supplied and yet to be supplied to the accused

Poster by #bakeryprasad

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The National Investigation Agency was directed to comply with the predecessor judge’s Order dated May 23, 2022, directing the it to provide a chart on data of documents.
On Tuesday, a National Investigation (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria directed the NIA to provide a chart of the data of the cloned copies of seized documents in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
The plea is for the NIA to comply with Section 207 (supply of a copy of the police report and other documents to the accused) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Read more

Also Read:
● What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● NIA gets more time to reply to plea for furnishing copies of evidence to the accused (The Leaflet / July 2023)
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)

Book launch of ‘A Life in Poetry’ – VV Rao’s poems / The many ideas behind the birth of poetry

Book launch of ‘A Life in Poetry’ – VV Rao’s poems / The many ideas behind the birth of poetry


Thread by Live Law / @LiveLawIndia (Sep 2, 2023)

Telugu poet and UAPA accused P #VaravaraRao along with his wife Hemlata at the launch of ‘A Life in Poetry’ – the first ever English translation of Rao’s poems. Rao was seated quietly in the audience, as bail conditions don’t permit him to read his poems publicly or be on stage.

@PenguinIndia has published translations of 48 out of nearly 700 poems written by Rao over the course of 60 years.
All poems pre-date his arrest in the #BhimaKoregaon – #ElgarParishad Case

VV Rao’s wife P Hemlata launched the book. She left her home in Hyderabad two years ago and has lived with Rao in Mumbai since then, owing to his bail conditions.
Sr Advs @Ijaising & Mihir Desai, author Jerry Pinto and a couple of others spoke at the launch.

@Ijaising on poetry – There is a connection between law and poetry. The first laws in Greece and Rome were written in poetic form.
On the significance of VV Rao’s bail order – Your case will forever be a beacon of hope to those who demand their right of health in prison.

Jerry Pinto – We do poetry to escape the incarceration called life…
Will there be singing in dark times? Yes, there will be singing in dark times. It will be about the dark times.

Mumbai: ‘When you become the poem itself’

04/09/2023

Mid-day.com / by Hemal Ashar

Words took centre stage at launch of Varavara Rao’s poetry book at the Press Club on Saturday
Varavara Rao’s first anthology of poems translated into English called, ‘Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry’ was released at a function held at Press Club Azad Maidan, late Saturday evening. The book is edited by N Venugopal and Meena Kandasamy. The book is a collection of poems translated by nine translators from 16 books published between 1968 and 2014.
Read more

The many ideas behind the birth of poetry that floats like a butterfly; and stings like a bee

07/09/2023

Hindustan Times / by Ramu Ramanathan

The turning point of Telugu literary history is 3 and 4 July of 1970. Poets who were invited to speak at the seminar/ poets who were not invited to the seminar/ poets who were going to be felicitated/ poets who were expelled/ poets who were going to boycott/ poets who were to be a member of the executive committee/ poets of all ideologies and -isms
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Tomorrow there won’t be any classes’: Activist Varavara Rao’s poems get an English translation (Scroll.in / by Varavara Rao, N Venugopal & Rohith / Jul 2023)

● Varavara Rao A Live in Poetry

By VIRASAM
Book Launch || Live Laamakan || 13-07-23 || VIRASAM

en / telugu | 2:16:35 | 2023
Watch video

SC adjourns hearing on the dispute over Gautam Navlakha’s place of house arrest by eight weeks

SC adjourns hearing on the dispute over Gautam Navlakha’s place of house arrest by eight weeks

Gautam Navlakha

Supreme Court adjourns hearing on the dispute over Gautam Navlakha’s place of house arrest by eight weeks

01/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and J.B. Pardiwala expressed “reservations” over the grant of house arrest to Navlakha by the predecessor Bench.
Today, the Supreme Court directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a counter-affidavit on Gautam Navlakha’s plea to change the location of his house arrest.
A division Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and J.B. Pardiwala adjourned the hearing for eight weeks.
Read more

Supreme Court Doubts Earlier Order Allowing House Arrest For Bhima Koregaon Accused Gautam Navlakha

01/09/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

The Supreme Court on Friday doubted its November 2022 order allowing human rights activist and Bhima Koregaon-accused Gautam Navlakha to be released from detention and placed under house arrest on grounds of his deteriorating health. Such an order, the court orally observed, might set the ‘wrong precedent’.
Read more

Video: SC Doubts Earlier Order Allowing House Arrest For Gautam Navlakha

02/09/2023

Live Law / by Anuj Nakade


en | 7:11 | 2013
Watch video

Supreme Court expresses reservations over earlier order to allow plea by Gautam Navlakha for house arrest

01/09/2023

Bar & Bench / by Abhimanyu Hazarika

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and JB Pardiwala orally observed that the order in question did not deal with the merits of the overall case and proceedings against the activist.
The Supreme Court on Friday orally remarked that it may have reservations over its earlier decision to allow the plea filed by Bhima Koregaon violence accused Gautam Navlakha to shift him from jail and place him under house arrest [Gautam Navlakha vs National Investigation Agency and anr].
Read more

Also read:
● NIA opposes Gautam Navlakha’s plea for moving house arrest from Mumbai to Alibag (The Leaflet / May 2023)
● Explainer: As activist Gautam Navlakha is allowed house arrest, what does this actually involve? (Scroll.in / Nov 2022)

What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle?

What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle?

Poster by #bakeryprasad

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

What is the law embedded in Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and why does it keep getting invoked in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case?
Sevaral accused in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case have claimed that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has inordinately delayed giving them access to copies of important evidence in the case.
The evidence exists in the form of cloned copies of electronic material purportedly recovered from the accused.
Read more

Also Read:
● NIA gets more time to reply to plea for furnishing copies of evidence to the accused (The Leaflet / July 2023)
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
● Incriminating evidence planted in computers: The Trojan solved the Bhima Koregaon case! (Anchored Narratives / Jan 2023)
● Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan / March 2020)

Prakash Ambedkar deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

Prakash Ambedkar deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

In his affidavit filed before the commission on July 24, Ambedkar had sought an inquiry into the alleged intelligence failure regarding the Koregaon Bhima violence
Dalit leader and president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) Prakash Ambedkar deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday.
Read more

Also Read:
● Bhima Koregaon Violence: Four Different Theories, but No Justice in Sight (The Wire / Jan 2022)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Saffron Conspiracy in Bhima Koregaon? – Fact finding report by Rashtra Seva Dal unearths insidious scheme to target Dalits (CJP / Jan 2018)

Koregaon Bhima Commission: Cross examination of IPS officer Nangare Patil concludes

Koregaon Bhima Commission: Cross examination of IPS officer Nangare Patil concludes


Imprisoned Voices. Booklet.

The Indian Express by Chandan Haygunde

During cross-examination by Jamadar, Nangare Patil said he had not visited the Jaystambh prior to January 1, 2018. As per Nangare Patil’s affidavit, there were inputs that some “Dalit Sanghatna” wanted to demolish Jamadar’s house located adjacent to the Jaystambh on January 1, 2018.
The cross-examination of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vishwas Nangare Patil, who appeared before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry as a witness, concluded Saturday.
Read more

Also Read:
● Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 27, 2022)
● Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots (Live Law / Oct 2021)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati│ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)
● Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (Dailyo.in │ by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves │ Jan 30, 2018)