Browsed by
Category: Persecution

I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death

I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death

Scroll.in / by Arun Ferreira

The deterioration of the 84-year-old in Taloja Jail was evident. Jail medical staff watched it happen, recalls a fellow prisoner.

Ferreira was incarcerated along with Swamy in the prison hospital. He has been now released on bail on conditions, one of which disallows him from commenting about the case in the media.

“This is not a natural death, but the institutional murder of a gentle soul,” reads the statement by the family members of the people accused in the Elgar Parishad case that was released immediately after Father Stan Swamy’s death on July 5, 2021.
Some may consider these words a bit too harsh given Stan’s age (he was 84) and health (he had Parkison’s disease). However observing and experiencing the callous treatment meted out to Stan at Taloja Prison, I am inclined to endorse their view.
Read more

‘Tell the judge he has done no crime’: The struggles of Hany Babu’s family

‘Tell the judge he has done no crime’: The struggles of Hany Babu’s family

Scroll.in / Mekhala Saran

On July 28, Delhi University professor 57-year-old Hany Babu will complete five years of incarceration.
When the National Investigation Agency came for Babu in 2020, India was battling the Covid-19 virus, which is known to fester and multiply in densely packed spaces, such as prison cells.
The Delhi University professor, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been in jail for five years with no trial in sight.
Read more


Also read:
Supreme Court Refuses Urgent Listing For Hany Babu’s Application In Bhima Koregaon Case (Live Law / June 2025)
HC questions maintainability of Hany Babu’s fresh bail plea (Hindustan Times / May 2025)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: JENNY ROWENA ON THE FEAR OF PRISONS AND THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM BEHIND IT (The Polis Project / June 2024)

Symptoms cited to meet ailing father ‘common for almost every senior citizen’: NIA court denies Ramesh Gaichor interim bail

Symptoms cited to meet ailing father ‘common for almost every senior citizen’: NIA court denies Ramesh Gaichor interim bail

Symptoms cited to meet ailing father ‘common for almost every senior citizen’: Mumbai court denies interim bail for Ramesh Gaichor

03/07/2025

The India Express / by Sadaf Modak

Ramesh Gaichor has been in jail since 2020 over alleged Maoist affiliation in the Elgaar Parishad case and sought interim bail for two weeks to meets his father.
A special court in Mumbai Tueday denied interim bail for two weeks sought by an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, citing that symptoms suffered by his father are “quite common for almost every senior citizen”.
Read more


NIA Court rejects interim bail plea by Bhima Koregaon violence accused Ramesh Gaichor
[Read Order]

03/07/2025

Bar & Bench / by Sahyaja MS

A special NIA court in Mumbai on Tuesday denied interim bail to Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case [Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor v National Investigation Agency]
Gaichor had sought a two-week temporary release to visit his ailing father.
Read more


Also read/watch:
BK-16 Prison Diaries: Ramesh Gaichor on the Elgar prisoners’ defiance of the neo-Peshwai prison system (The Polis Project / Sep 2024)

▪ WE ARE CHILDREN OF AMBEDKAR: Shahir Ramesh and Sagar

hindi/english subtitles | 07:26min | 2020

Shahir Sagar Gorkhe and Shahir Ramesh Gaichor, prominent members of Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerna Abhiyan and Kabir Kala Manch, found themselves at the receiving end of the BJP government’s actions when they were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 7th September 2020.
Both Shahir Sagar Gorkhe and Shahir Ramesh Gaichor have asserted that the NIA forced them to provide false testimony against those already arrested. They were coerced into writing confessional statements seeking forgiveness and implicating other individuals in the case. However, their steadfast refusal to comply with these unjust demands has put them at risk of being arrested by the NIA.
In a recorded video statement, Sagar emphasized their commitment to following the constitution and their allegiance to Dr. Ambedkar, stating, “We aren’t progenies of Savarkar but are children of Dr. Ambedkar. Confessing to things we have never done is out of the question.”

Watch video

Notes From Inside Taloja Prison

Notes From Inside Taloja Prison

Mahesh Raut

Outlook / by Mahesh Raut

Mahesh Raut, a TISS alumnus and rights activist working for Adivasis and marginalised communities, was arrested in June 2018 in the Bhima-Koregaon Maoist conspiracy case and has since been incarcerated in jail
Taloja Central Prison, located in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, houses primarily male undertrial prisoners under the jurisdiction of various courts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (eg., Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Panvel and Belapur Courts). Like many prisons across India, Taloja is severely overcrowded, accommodating thrice its sanctioned capacity. As an undertrial prisoner at Taloja, confined in Yard 03 (referred to as ‘Baba Barrack’), which includes separate barracks for male prisoners aged 18 to 23, my curiosity was stirred by the rising number of young inmates here and the socio-economic realities leading to their incarceration.
Read more


Also read:
Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut (Outlook / May 2025)
Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 2025)

Supreme Court Refuses Urgent Listing For Hany Babu’s Application In Bhima Koregaon Case

Supreme Court Refuses Urgent Listing For Hany Babu’s Application In Bhima Koregaon Case

Poster by @bakeryprasad

Live Law / by Live Law News Network

The bench said that the applicant cannot seek urgent listing during the vacations when he could have approached the Court during the regular working days.
… Last month, the High Court observed that the Supreme Court’s order allowing the withdrawal did not reserve his liberty to approach the High Court. Hence, the High Court said that Babu was required to seek clarification from the Supreme Court.
Read more


Also read:
Why Bela Trivedi retired from Supreme Court as a deeply unpopular judge (Scroll.in / May 2025)
HC questions maintainability of Hany Babu’s fresh bail plea (Hindustan Times / May 2025)
How Long Is Too Long for an Undertrial Prisoner To Be Detained? (The Wire | by Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling | Oct 2024)

NIA court rejects Gautam Navlakha’s plea, says he can’t permanently stay in Delhi [read order]

NIA court rejects Gautam Navlakha’s plea, says he can’t permanently stay in Delhi [read order]

Gautam Navlakha

Special NIA Court Dismisses Gautam Navlakha’s Plea To Reside In Delhi

20/06/2025

Live Law / by Narsi Benwal

A special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday (June 19) rejected an application filed by human rights’ activist Gautam Navlakha, who sought permission of the court to leave Mumbai and reside in Delhi permanently till the culmination of the trial in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. Special Judge Chakor Baviskar said traveling beyond the jurisdiction of the Court is one thing and residing permanently beyond the jurisdiction of the Court, is all together different thing.
Read more
[Read order]


Bhima Koregaon case: Court rejects activist Gautam Navlakha’s plea to live in Delhi

20/06/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The 70-year-old activist was granted bail in May 2024, but was directed to reside in Mumbai.
A Mumbai court on Thursday rejected human rights activist Gautam Navlakha’s petition seeking permission to live in Delhi during the pendency of his trial in the Bhima Koregaon case, reported Live Law.
Read more


Mumbai court rejects plea by Gautam Navlakha to relocate to Delhi

20/06/2025

Bar & Bench / by Sahyaja MS

Navlakha had filed an application requesting relief from the condition that restricts him from leaving the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court.
A special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday rejected a plea by activist and accused in Bhima Koregaon violence, Gautam Navlakha, seeking permission to permanently relocate to Delhi. [Gautam Navlakha v National Investigation Agency]
Read more
[Read order]


Court rejects journalist Gautam Navlakha’s plea, says he can’t permanently stay in Delhi

20/06/2025

The Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel

Observing that “permanently residing outside the court’s jurisdiction is a completely separate matter from merely travelling beyond it”, a special NIA court on Thursday rejected a plea by journalist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, seeking permission to permanently reside in Delhi.
Citing financial strain, unemployment, and an ailing 86-year-old sister, Navlakha moved the plea in April. “Since HC has not granted such liberty either to the accused or to this court as well, this unnecessary application deserves to be rejected,” the judge said.
Read more


Court rejects Navlakha’s plea for nod to reside in Delhi during pendency of case

19/06/2024

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Elgaar Parishad accused had cited expenses in Mumbai
A special court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by journalist-activist Gautam Navlakha, booked in the Elgaar Parishad case, seeking permission to reside in New Delhi during the pendency of the case.
Navlakha was directed not to leave the jurisdiction of the Mumbai court without permission, as part of his bail conditions set by the Bombay High Court.
Read more


Also read:
BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 (The Polis Project | by Gautam Navlakha | May 2025)
Navlakha files application in court seeking permission to stay in Delhi (The Indian Express / Apr 2025)
Gautam Navlakha granted bail by Supreme Court; orders him to pay 20 lakhs for the expenses incurred during his house arrest (cjp / May 2024)
Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon accused struggle to find house in city (Hindustan Times / Nov 2022)

Why Bela Trivedi retired from Supreme Court as a deeply unpopular judge

Why Bela Trivedi retired from Supreme Court as a deeply unpopular judge

Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

Scroll.in / by Vineet Bhalla

Over her four-year tenure in the court, Trivedi developed a reputation for rarely granting bail, locking horns with lawyers, and favouring the BJP.
Trivedi was elevated to the Supreme Court from the Gujarat High Court in August 2021. According to a study by the Supreme Court Observer, till October 2024, almost 40% of the judgements authored by her as a Supreme Court judge were in criminal law matters – an unusually large number.
Her track record in many of these showed that she went against the oft-repeated adage by the Supreme Court that “bail is the rule, jail is the exception”.
Read more


Also read:
Ex-DU prof Hany Babu withdraws bail plea in Supreme Court (Hindustan Times / May 2024)
Contrary To SC’s Rules Of Assignment, At Least 8 Politically Sensitive Cases Moved To One Judge In 4 Months (article 14 / Dec 2023)
‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling (Scroll.in / Dec 2023)
When Push Comes to Shove: Tracking Judicial Recusals and Transfers (The Wire / Apr 2023)
Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)
Ten recusals in Bhima Koregaon raises the question: Should judges disclose reasons for withdrawal? (Scroll.in / May 2022)

HC questions maintainability of Hany Babu’s fresh bail plea

HC questions maintainability of Hany Babu’s fresh bail plea

HC questions maintainability of Hany Babu’s fresh bail plea

18/05/2025

Hindustan Times / by Karuna Nidhi

Additional solicitor-general Anil Singh, appearing for the NIA, raised preliminary objections over the maintainability of the application, citing a delay of more than two years and four months in its filing after the NIA court on February 14, 2022 rejected Babu’s bail application
The Bombay high court earlier this month questioned the maintainability of the fresh bail application filed on June 10, 2024, by former Delhi University (DU) professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
Read more


Bombay High Court Asks Hany Babu To Seek Clarification From SC Regarding Forum To Approach For Seeking Anticipatory Bail

03/05/2025

Live Law / by Narsi Benwal

The Bombay High Court on Friday asked former Delhi University Professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad case, to seek clarification from the Supreme Court as to whether he should be approaching the HC or the Special Court for afresh bail.
This comes while the bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata commenced hearing Babu’s appeal challenging an order passed by the Special NIA court in February 2022, denying him bail.
Read more


Thread by Live Law / @LiveLawIndia (May 2, 2025):
Bombay High Court has asked former Delhi University Professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad case, to seek clarification from the Supreme Court as to whether he should be approaching either the HC or the Special Court for afresh bail.
#BombayHighCourt #HanyBabu
This comes while the bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari & Kamal Khata commenced hearing his appeal challenging an order passed by the Special NIA court in February 2022, denying him bail.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh for the NIA raised a preliminary objection stating that if the SC has granted him liberty to seek afresh bail, then he must approach the Special Court and not the HC.
Dr Yug Chaudhary for Hany Babu, however, opposed the objection. He said that he is ready to give up his arguments on merits for the moment and would argue only on the point of delay since his client has been behind the bars for 4 years 9 months now.
“This is a constitutional court and nothing can stop it from hearing my plea for bail on point of delay since my right to life and liberty is being violated,” Chaudhary told the judges.
However, the judges too prima facie, opined that there is no liberty granted by the SC (by its April 3, 2024) order to Hany Babu to file an appeal before the HC. It therefore, asked Babu to seek clarification from the SC and has adjourned the hearing.

Also read:
How Long Is Too Long for an Undertrial Prisoner To Be Detained? (The Wire | by Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling | Oct 2024)
Former Delhi University Professor Hany Babu Moves Bombay HC For Bail In Elgar Parishad-Maoist Links (Free Press Journal / Oct 2024)
Ex-DU prof Hany Babu withdraws bail plea in Supreme Court (Hindustan Times / May 2024)

Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut

Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut

Outlook / by Mahesh Raut

Mahesh Raut, a TISS alumnus and rights activist working for Adivasis and marginalised communities, was arrested in June 2018 in the Bhima-Koregaon Maoist conspiracy case and has since been incarcerated in jail
Taloja Central Prison, located in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, houses primarily male undertrial prisoners under the jurisdiction of various courts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (e.g., Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Panvel and Belapur Courts). Like many prisons across India, Taloja is severely overcrowded, accommodating thrice its sanctioned capacity. As an undertrial prisoner at Taloja, confined in Yard 03 (referred to as ‘Baba Barrack’), which includes separate barracks for male prisoners aged 18 to 23, my curiosity was stirred by the rising number of young inmates here and the socio-economic realities leading to their incarceration.
Read more


Also read:
Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 2025)
Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)
Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)

▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada

Author: Sudha Bhardwaj
Publishing Date: Oct 2023
Publisher: Juggernaut
Pages: 216
Read more / order

BK-16 Prison Diaries | The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 

BK-16 Prison Diaries | The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 

To mark six years of the arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of political dissidents in the Bhima Koregaon case, The Polis Project is publishing a series of writings by the BK-16, and their families, friends and partners. By describing various aspects of the past six years, the series offers a glimpse into the BK-16’s lives inside prison, as well as the struggles of their loved ones outside. Each piece in the series is complemented by Arun Ferreira’s striking and evocative artwork.

Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19

14/05/2025

The Polis Project / by Gautam Navlakha

My journey as a captive began in extraordinary circumstances. The Covid-19 pandemic had afflicted the world and, in India, a countrywide lockdown was imposed on March 24, 2020. Travel by rail, road or air was suspended. A climate of fear and uncertainty prevailed. However, the Supreme Court had asked Anand Teltumbde and me to surrender before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by April 14—incidentally, Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. Anand presented himself before the NIA in Mumbai, while I, a resident of Delhi, surrendered myself at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi.
Read more


Also read:
BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sudhir Dhawale’s poem, “Prisoners of Consciousness” (THE POLIS PROJECT / March 2025)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (THE POLIS PROJECT / Feb 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: Varavara Rao on prisons as institutions of corruption, sadism and dehumanisation (THE POLIS PROJECT / OCT 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: RAMESH GAICHOR ON THE ELAGAR PRISONER’ S DEFIANCE OF THE NEO-PESHWAI PRISON SYSTEM (THE POLIS PROJECT / OCT 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: SAGAR GORKHE’S PARENTS ARE STRUGGLING IN HIS ABSENCE (THE POLIS PROJECT / JULY 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: RAMESH GAICHOR’S PARENTS JUST WANT TO MEET HIM AGAIN BEFORE THEY DIE (THE POLIS PROJECT / JULY 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: MINAL GADLING ON THE MANY CRUELTIES, IRONIES AND INJUSTICES OF SURENDRA’S IMPRISONMENT (THE POLIS PROJECT / JULY 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: RUPALI JADHAV TRAVELS TEN HOURS FOR FLEETING EXCHANGES WITH JYOTI JAGTAP (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: JENNY ROWENA ON THE FEAR OF PRISONS AND THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM BEHIND IT (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: ANAND TELTUMBDE REFLECTS ON HIS ARREST AND INCARCERATION (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: STORIES OF LOVE, MURDER AND CHILD MARRIAGE FROM SHOMA SEN’S YEARS IN PRISONS (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: ARUN FERREIRA ON THE FARCE AND TRAGEDY OF THE PANDEMIC IN PRISON (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: VERNON GONSALVES ON THE STRUGGLE TO READ AND WRITE BEHIND BARS (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
INTRODUCING THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)