The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
The village also has a disputed tomb-like structure, which, according to the Dalit Mahar community, is the samadhi of Govind Gopal Dhegoji Meghoji, a 17th-century Dalit figure.
The cross-examination of Sambhaji Shivale (51), a resident of Vadhu Budruk village in Pune district, continued before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Monday.
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The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
While out on temporary bail in August, the rights activist sang a song written by Kabir Kala Manch’s Ramesh Gaichor for his friends and colleagues about the sordid conditions in prison.
Mumbai: Surendra Gadling, a human rights lawyer from Nagpur, has always considered courtrooms his stage. Between serious arguments, he would casually break into songs of cultural and political resistance. He would be commonly found invoking political theories and remembering shahirs from the Dalit community amid serious legal arguments. His court appearances usually attracted an eager audience from among his peers and junior lawyers.
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hindi | 11min | 2021
51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
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Also read: India’s Jail Stats: 7 In 10 Undertrials, 1 In 3 Dalit/Adivasi (IndiaSpend / Oct 2021)
14/10/2021
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The Bombay High Court will hear Rao’s plea seeking extension of his medical bail for another six months on October 26.
Poet Varavara Rao need not surrender before the Taloja Jail authorities in Navi Mumbai until October 28, the Bombay High Court said on Tuesday, PTI reported.
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14/10/2021
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
The octogenarian, arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case in 2018, was granted medical bail by the HC on February 22 for six months.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday extended till October 28 the time to surrender for Elgar Parishad accused Varavara Rao, who has sought extension of his medical bail and permission to shift to his residence at Hyderabad in Telangana, citing ill health and high expenses in Mumbai.
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Live Law (Oct 14):
+++ Bombay High Court will shortly hear Telugu poet PV #VaravaraRao(81)’s plea to extend the medical bail granted to him, in February, 2021.
He has also sought relaxation of his bail condition so that he can leave Mumbai and live at home in #Hyderabad +++
+++ Hearing before Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal
Sr Adv Anand Grover for Rao ASG Anil Singh for NIA +++
+++ Hearing begins +++
+++ Justice Jamdar – We can take it up sometime in the next week.
Desai requests for a Friday hearing.
J Jamdar – Adjourned to 26th. Time to surrender till 28th +++
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
Four years after arrests in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case, the National Investigation Agency has said that it will provide remaining copies of electronic evidence seized, but the trial in the case should go on.
Responding to pleas by lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and journalist Gautam Navlakha to stay the proceedings or defer framing of charges until the clones copies are not provided, NIA claims they have yet to receive copies from the Forensic Science Laboratory.
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Also read: After Pegasus and Arsenal Reports, Can Bhima Koregaon Case Still Stand? (The Quint; July 21, 2021)
12/10/2021
The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent
A three-month-old letter by three Elgaar Parishad co-accused alleging “institutional murder” of Father Stan Swamy and accusing then Taloja prison superintendent Kaustubh Kurlekar of mistreating him has yet to evoke any response from the Maharashtra authorities it was sent to.
The letter alleged the 84-year-old Jesuit and tribal rights defender from Jharkhand was strip-searched “in front of the entire staff” when he was brought to the jail, and was kept in isolation so the Parkinson’s patient could not receive any help from fellow prisoners.
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06/10/2021
NewsClick / by Parth M.N.
The letter holds the superintendent of Taloja Prison, Kaustubh Kurlekar, responsible for Swamy’s death, and accuses him of purposely emasculating Swamy’s physical health and mental resolve.
Three political prisoners arrested in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case have written a letter to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray. The letter claims that father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand, did not die a natural death. “It was an institutional murder,” says the letter, signed by human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling, and cultural activists Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe, who were eyewitnesses to the treatment meted out to Swamy in prison.
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10/10/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
NIA opposed the plea filed before Bombay High Court by wives of Teltumbde and Gonsalves, against the Superintendent of Taloja Prison, accusing him of withholding letters sent to and received from their family members.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the plea filed before Bombay High Court by wives of Bhima Koreagon accused Anand Teltumbde and Vernon Gonsalves, against the Superintendent of Taloja Central Prison, accusing him of withholding letters sent to and received from their family members.
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09/10/2021
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the state prison authority and the NIA to file a reply to the plea by the wives of Elgaar Parishad case accused Anand Teltumbde and Vernon Gonsalves, who are lodged in Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai, seeking an inquiry for allegedly restricting the two activists from writing letters to their spouses and lawyers.
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09/10/2021
The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee
Over 150 rights activists staged a dharna for over two hours at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi.
Protests and programmes were organised in Jharkhand, Kerala and Karnataka on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the arrest of octogenarian Jesuit priest and rights defender Father Stan Swamy who passed away in July this year in judicial custody.
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By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (Oct 8)
Various mass organizations and left parties demanding:
Punishment of the perpetrators of Stan’s murder!
Release all political prisoners!
Repeal UAPA!
08/10/2021
By Jamsehdpur Jesuits
en | 3:15min | 2021
Fr. Jerry Cutinha, S.J, the Provincial of Jamshedpur Jesuits comes forward in recalling the footsteps of Stan Swamy as a symbol for Justice & Hope.
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by Teesta Setalvad (Oct 8):
LEST WE FORGET: A Day of Crime a Precious Life Lost! this day last yr, the Modi govt arrested Fr #StanSwamy via #UAPA. Never questioned in custody. Died in July, denied bail.
Oct 2020
Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha / by Stan Swamy
en | 7:48min | 2020
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Also read:
Why An Aged Defender Of The Deprived Faces Terror Charges (article 14, Nov 2020)
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
After Father Stan Swamy’s death in July, Sudhir Dhawale penned an emotional letter. But Taloja jail authorities decided nobody should read it.
When 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy passed away on July 5, one of his co-accused in the Elgar Parishad case, Sudhir Dhawale, penned an emotional poem. Dhawale, a writer and anti-caste activist from Mumbai who is currently jailed at the Taloja central prison, wrote an eight-page poem describing his first meeting with Swamy, their interactions in jail and Swamy’s contribution to the tribal rights movement in Jharkhand. He titled the poem Pathalgadicha Father or the ‘Father of Pathalgadi’.
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en | 1h 5min | 2021
By Irish PEN and Scottish PEN
Join Irish PEN, Scottish PEN, Wales PEN Cymru and guests as we share readings, translations and updates on the case of revolutionary Indian poet, Varavara Rao.
This event was chaired by Professor Ignatius McGovern and featured a rare opportunity to hear from Rao’s nephew, Venugopal Nellutla, who published ‘The Making of Varavara Rao: An Intimate Portrait by a Nephew’ in 2020. The event includes a variety of poetry and prose readings from Áine Ní Ghlinn, Professor Bashabi Fraser, Leela Soma, Ifor ap Glyn, June Considine and Kate Ennals.
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Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani
Testimony presented before the Bhima Korgaon Commission over the last two months reveals the background to the violence that broke out on January 1, 2018.
As the Bhima Koregaon accused continue to struggle for bail, important information about the violence that they are accused of instigating is emerging before the judicial commission that’s investigating the violence.
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