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Category: Persecution

NIA court denies Mahesh Raut permission to travel to Kerala for medical treatment

NIA court denies Mahesh Raut permission to travel to Kerala for medical treatment

NIA court denies Mahesh Raut permission to travel to Kerala for medical treatment

23/01/2026

Hindustan Times / by Vikrant Jha

The court said adequate treatment options are available in Mumbai and permitting him to travel to another state would dilute territorial restrictions imposed by the Bombay High Court
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has rejected an application filed by Bhima Koregaon case accused Mahesh Raut seeking permission to travel to Kerala for medical treatment. The court said adequate treatment options are available in Mumbai and permitting him to travel to another state would dilute territorial restrictions imposed by the Bombay High Court.
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Mahesh Raut | A Broken Prison System Is In Dire Need Of Critical Care

22/01/2026

Outlook / by Mahesh Raut

Mahesh Raut, the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was granted interim bail on medical grounds. Many prisoners have no hope.
What constitutes freedom? What does it constitute for the person who is confined or for the one who comes out of jail, only to get entangled in another web of chains; some similar, but for others, different from what they experienced behind bars. In a prison, your identity is reduced to just a number. You are dehumanised at the whims of authorities and burdened by numerous hurdles and difficulties to secure bail. Many are not able to come out of prison even after securing bail due to financial constraints. All these factors take a toll on the physical and mental health of prisoners.
Read more


Also read:
Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC! (SabrangIndia / Sep 2023)

The 2016 Surjagarh arson case, the Elgaar link, and why the Supreme Court is intervening now

The 2016 Surjagarh arson case, the Elgaar link, and why the Supreme Court is intervening now

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Explained: The 2016 Surjagarh arson case, the Elgaar link, and why the Supreme Court is intervening now

22/01/2026

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Surendra Gadling has been judicially detained for seven years without a trial. He is accused in the 2016 Surjagarh arson case and the 2018 Elgaar Parishad case.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 21) said that it would order to expedite proceedings against lawyer-activist Surendra Gadling in the 2016 Surjagarh arson case. Gadling sought bail in the case, and said that he has been behind bars for seven years without a trial since his arrest in 2019.
Gadling, lodged in a Mumbai jail, is also in judicial custody in the Elgaar Parishad case since 2018; the trial in the case is yet to begin.
Read more


‘No Judge Or Prosecutor In NIA Court, 7 Yrs Custody Without Trial’: Surendra Gadling To Supreme Court In Bail Plea

21/01/2026

Live Law / by Debby Jain

The Court adjourned the matter saying it will ascertain from the HC Chief Justice whether a judge is there in the NIA court.
The Supreme Court today adjourned lawyer-activist Surendra Gadling’s bail plea in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case by a month, while granting time for document inspection. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi heard the matter and said that it would ascertain from the Bombay High Court Chief Justice whether any judge is posted in the concerned NIA court.
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7 years without trial: Supreme Court defers Surendra Gadling’s bail plea in Surajgarh arson case again

21/01/2026

Bar & Bench / by Ritwik Choudhury

“There is no case against me on merits. I am in jail for 7 years! What is this country coming to?” Gadling’s counsel told the Court today.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred by one more month the bail application filed by lawyer-activist Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surajgarh arson case.
Read more


Also read:
2016 Gadchiroli Arson Case: SC Demands Improved Virtual Conferencing In Surendra Gadling’s Trial (Free Press Journal / Dec 2025)
Supreme Court gives Maharashtra final chance to file affidavit on Surendra Gadling’s plea in 2016 Surjagarh mine arson case (The Leaflet / Oct 2025)
2016 Surjagarh arson case: Advocate Gadling can appear in person to argue his discharge plea, says court (The Indian Express / Oct 2025)
Elgar Parishad case: HC questions Gadling’s plea, says accused can’t choose probe agency (Hindustan Times / Sep 2025)
Supreme Court Seeks Explanation on Delayed Trial in 2016 Arson Case (Devdiscourse / Sep 2025)
6 yrs, no charges framed – Surendra Gadling stuck in trial limbo in 2016 Surajgarh arson case (The Print / Sep 2025)
In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)

Voices from Prison Series: Of Lives Stolen for Dissent │ Various accounts of political activists

Voices from Prison Series: Of Lives Stolen for Dissent │ Various accounts of political activists

Drawing by Arun Ferreira
Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Voices From Prison: Mahesh Raut | A Broken Prison System Is In Dire Need Of Critical Care

22/01/2026

Outlook / by Mahesh Raut

Mahesh Raut, the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was granted interim bail on medical grounds. Many prisoners have no hope.
What constitutes freedom? What does it constitute for the person who is confined or for the one who comes out of jail, only to get entangled in another web of chains; some similar, but for others, different from what they experienced behind bars. In a prison, your identity is reduced to just a number. You are dehumanised at the whims of authorities and burdened by numerous hurdles and difficulties to secure bail. Many are not able to come out of prison even after securing bail due to financial constraints. All these factors take a toll on the physical and mental health of prisoners.
Read more


Lives Lost: How Prolonged Incarceration Failed Pandu Narote, Kanchan Nanaware, Stan Swamy

22/01/2026

Outlook / by Priyanka Tupe

Pandu Pora Narote, Kanchan Nanaware and Stan Swamy never lived to learn their innocence or guilt after years of incarceration under the UAPA. Narote was acquitted by the Bombay High Court only after his death. It was too little, too late. Nanaware and Swamy also died as undertrials. For their families and lawyers, justice exists only on paper, not in life.
Pandu Pora Narote, 33, a tribal youth from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, was arrested in August 2013 on allegations of links with the banned CPI (Maoist) and its frontal organisation, the Revolutionary Democratic Front. The case later widened to include former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and several others.
Read more


Voices From Prison: Of Lives Stolen For Dissent

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Outlook News Desk

Outlook’s February 1 issue, Thou Shalt Not Dissent, shines a light on the lives of political prisoners who were slapped with anti-terrorism charges and continue to face long trials and curbing of rights.

In Outlook’s February 1 issue, Thou Shalt Not Dissent, first-person accounts of political activists who were slapped with anti-terrorism charges under different political regimes, explore life behind bars, the trauma, sights and sounds of a world bereft of freedom, normalcy and reason. Weaved with the accounts are stories of individuals who carry the burden of incarceration like a tumour on the face, afraid to cover it, so it doesn’t chafe, and hesitant to let it free, so it does not translate into their only identity.
Read more


Voices From Prison: ‘In Jail, I Measured Time From One Court Date to Another’

21/01/2026

Outlook / by Shoma Sen

Women’s rights activist and professor Shoma Sen, who was arrested in 2018 for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon riots, writes how in prisons, time comes to a standstill, literally
Though it is true that I did time, it appears more as if time did me. One cloudy evening, on June 21, 2018, when I was being taken to the Yerawada jail in Pune, I knew that watches were not allowed in jail, yet I had clung on to my basic Titan watch. I had to submit it at the gate. It was returned to me, looking like a museum relic, almost six years later. Time, trapped in a brown sarkari envelope, sealed in a metal box. Time that had stopped ticking.
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Me Coming Out Alive Is A Miracle: Hany Babu, Bhima-Koregaon Accused, On Life Behind Bars

21/01/2026

Outlook / by Hany Babu M.T.

More than five years after his arrest under the UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case, former Delhi University professor Hany Babu was granted bail in December 2025. He shares his experience of prison life.
Mornings start very early in jail, but they never come with an air of freedom. It has only been three to four weeks since I came out; the bail arrived quite late for me. Five years is a long time compared to my co-accused. Throughout these five years, hope never left my sight, even when I contracted Covid. But there were indeed times when a little despair did creep in.
Read more


Correctional Facility Or The World Of Endless Repetition, Solitude and Boredom?

21/01/2026

Outlook / by Rona Wilson

The prison system in India, persistently mediated and nourished by its colonial and retributive sensibilities, cannot be wished away by just changing the names of the prisons as correctional facilities, writes Rona Wilson, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
I had trouble in my barrack with some of the inmates smoking heavily beside me and some among them playing ludo till the wee hours. As the game intensifies with gambling, so does smoking and use of tobacco. I requested the officer-in-charge of my circle to intervene.
Read more


Voices From Prison: Life After Jail Is Tough, But Surveillance, Harassment Continue, Says Sudha Bharadwaj

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Sudha Bharadwaj

I am enormously relieved that the separation from my only daughter, Maaysha, has ended. We can speak to each other every day.
A couple of weeks ago, cops in civil dress—or so they claimed to be—arrived in the society where I live in a friend’s accommodation on rent. The police have my mobile number, which, no doubt, they monitor regularly. Besides, I report to the local police station every 14 days, and I regularly attend court dates, at least once every 15 days, if not more frequently. Despite this, the police did not bother to call me.
Read more


Voices From Prison: In The Isolation of the Anda Ward, We Dared To Sing, Writes Gautam Navlakha

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Gautam Navlakha


I realised that the more intense the sense of despair, the harder hope kicks in.

‘Those who speak of humanity in this system
Are thrown into prison to acquaint them
With the vocabulary of ‘criminology’’’

— Varavara Rao, Schools and Prisons

Hope and despair are basic human emotions and I believe that all human beings, now and then, swing between these two ends of the spectrum in life. I experienced these emotions acutely during my time in prison and captivity.
Read more


Voices From Prison: Alienating A Poet From A Language He Deeply Loves Is Painful, Writes Varavara Rao’s Daughter

20/01/2026

Outlook / by P Vanava

The poet and activist was jailed in connection with caste violence that erupted in 2018 in Bhima Koregaon. He was 78 then. Though he was released on medical grounds in 2022, he is still confined to Mumbai. In this first-person account, his daughter Pavana writes about how multiple incarcerations could not break her father’s strength and soul

This wasn’t his first arrest; he has been arrested many times in the past, since the Emergency in 1975, for his political activism. I was a newborn baby (a month old), when appa was arrested.
Read more


Voices From Prison: Bail Is Little Solace As I Lost My Life Anyway, Says Anand Teltumbde

19/01/2026

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

We became victims of two things—unjust investigation and a media trial that was used as a weapon. The Media Trial was Deeply Painful.
The tragic dimension of jail has been exhaustively mined. What remains scandalously underexplored is its comic genius. Prison is a factory of absurdity, running at full capacity every day, and I made it a habit to collect its specimens—especially during the so-called free hours, when the cells were opened each morning. This ritual began with the ceremonial clanking of batons, as guards slid them menacingly across steel bars, producing a sound—less like an alarm than a declaration of sovereignty.
Read more


Voices From Prison: What Happened In Bhima Koregaon Could Happen To You

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Alpa Shah

The Bhima Koregaon case is not only about those who were imprisoned. It is also about the fate of democracy itself
There are things in life that somehow wrap themselves around us. Things we never would have dreamed of doing—ideas that once seemed dangerous, crazy, or simply foolish. They arrive quietly, almost by accident, and before we know it, they surround us, occupy our thoughts, and slowly take over. Until one day, there is no turning back, and we can’t imagine thinking about anything else.
Read more


Also read:
More from the Voices From Prison series
Voices From Prison: For GN Saibaba, Who Is No More, And Others Who Are Here (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | Half-Freedom For Adivasis Jailed On Maoist Allegations (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | From Forest To Prison, When Security Laws Criminalise Adivasi Resistance (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | I Still Question The Govt, But Now In A More Satirical Tone: Rakesh Roshan Kiro (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison: Hope Remains A Stubborn Thing Even In Captivity, Says Umar Khalid (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | The Problematic Judgement in the Denial of Bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison: Who Stole My Youth? Asks North-East Delhi Riots Accused Mohammad Iqbal (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison: My Detention And Incarceration Were Preordained By Prejudice, Says Sidhique Kappan (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | Scars Of 17 Years Will Remain: Aparna Purohit On Lt Col Purohit’s Imprisonment In 2008 Malegaon Case (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | He Has Been Arrested For Political Reasons: Gitanjali Angmo On Husband Sonam Wangchuk’s Imprisonment (Outlook / Jan 2026)
Voices From Prison | A Legacy Of Detention: Weaponisation Of PDA, TADA, NSA And UAPA Laws Since Independence (Outlook / Jan 2026)

THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)

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.

INTRODUCING THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)

How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners

How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? includes visual testimonies and prison writings from those falsely accused of inciting the Bhima Koregaon violence, by student leaders opposing the new discriminatory citizenship law passed in 2020, and by activists from the Pinjra Tod’s movement. In bringing together these voices, the book celebrates the courage, humanity and moral integrity of those jailed for standing in solidarity with marginalised and oppressed communities.

Authors: Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
Publishing Date: Aug 2023
Publisher: Pluto Press
Pages: 247
Read more / order

Hierarchy in jail is formed by class: Anand Teltumbde on his prison memoir ‘The Cell and the Soul’

Hierarchy in jail is formed by class: Anand Teltumbde on his prison memoir ‘The Cell and the Soul’

The Mint / by Prachi Pinglay-Plumber

Scholar Anand Teltumbde examines a country driven to a dead end, where the opposition is silent and citizens have been terrorised into normalcy

In an interview with Lounge, he discusses the writing of his prison memoir, why class trumps caste within the confines of prison, and the pitfalls of a caste census.
Read more


Also read:
No mosquito nets, no medicine—Teltumbde recounts life in prison in ‘The Cell and the Soul’ (The Print / Nov 2025)
I never thought I’d qualify for arrest, says Teltumbde (Hindustan Times / Nov 2025)
Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls (Outlook | by Sudhir Dhawale | Sep 2025)

▪ The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256
Read more/order

I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 (The Polis Project | by Gautam Navlakha | May 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
Ramesh Gaichor on the Elgar prisoners’ defiance of the neo-Peshwai prison system (The Polis Project | by Ramesh Gaichor | Sep 2024)
Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)

▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners

Author: Neeta Kolhatkar
Publishing Date: Dec 2024
Publisher: S&S India
Pages: 272
Read more/order

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

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

▪ How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners

Authors: Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
Publishing Date: Aug 2023
Publisher: Pluto Press
Pages: 247
Read more / order

‘No one dies in prison, They die on the way to hospital’

‘No one dies in prison, They die on the way to hospital’

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Times of India / by Akshay Bhagwat

Hany Babu entered Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison in July 2020. Anand Teltumbde followed the same year. Babu spent five years inside before being released on bail; Teltumbde was released on bail; Teltumbde was released in 2022 after spending about two-and-a-half years in prison. Neither has faced trial.
According to the India Justice Report 2025, undertrials now account for around 75% of India’s prison population.
Read more


Also read:
My Imprisonment Part of Scheme to Suppress Dissent, Intimidate Academics: DU Prof Hany Babu (Hindustan Gazette / Dec 2025)
I realised that through Allah I can have the strength to face what was before me: Hany Babu (Frontline / Dec 2025)
Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls (Outlook | by Sudhir Dhawale | Sep 2025)
I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut (Outlook / May 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 (The Polis Project | by Gautam Navlakha | May 2025)
In Taloja Central Jail, interviews with over 300 undertrial prisoners show denial of rights (The Leaflet | by Hany Babu & Surendra Gadling | Mar 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
Ramesh Gaichor on the Elgar prisoners’ defiance of the neo-Peshwai prison system (The Polis Project | by Ramesh Gaichor | Sep 2024)
Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)

‘My Imprisonment Part of Scheme to Suppress Dissent, Intimidate Academics’: Hany Babu

‘My Imprisonment Part of Scheme to Suppress Dissent, Intimidate Academics’: Hany Babu

Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

My Imprisonment Part of Scheme to Suppress Dissent, Intimidate Academics: DU Prof Hany Babu

20/12/2025

The Hindustan Gazette / by Waquar Hasan

Delhi University professor and civil rights activist Hany Babu, who was recently granted bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, has said that his imprisonment was part of a larger scheme to suppress dissent and intimidate academics, intellectuals, and activists who raise critical concerns.

“Five years inside the prison can actually destroy a person. The only way to withstand this is by doing positive things and refusing to bow down,” he said. “I’m a born Muslim, but I was not religious before my arrest. It was when I was arrested that I realized how vulnerable we all are, and that it is only a supreme power which maybe can kind of save you.”
Read more


Prison, Pandemic and Survival: How Hany Babu’s Freedom Was Curtailed Long Before His Arrest

17/12/2025

The Wire / by Skanya Shantha

After more than five years in jail, academic Hany Babu recounts how arrest, illness and neglect reshaped his life, scholarship and understanding of the prison system.

During his imprisonment, Babu and his co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case waged numerous battles—not only for their own survival, but for the dignity of all prisoners. They fought for better food, adequate medical care and other basic rights, securing small but hard-won victories along the way.
Read more


Also read/watch:
I realised that through Allah I can have the strength to face what was before me: Hany Babu (Frontline / Dec 2025)
Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls (Outlook | by Sudhir Dhawale | Sep 2025)
I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut (Outlook / May 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 (The Polis Project | by Gautam Navlakha | May 2025)
In Taloja Central Jail, interviews with over 300 undertrial prisoners show denial of rights (The Leaflet | by Hany Babu & Surendra Gadling | Mar 2025)
BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
Ramesh Gaichor on the Elgar prisoners’ defiance of the neo-Peshwai prison system (The Polis Project | by Ramesh Gaichor | Sep 2024)
Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)

Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling (The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaychor)

hindi | 11min | 2021

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.

Watch video / Listen to the song

Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to move to Delhi till trial ends

Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to move to Delhi till trial ends

Bail ! Gautam with his partner Sabha Husain. May 2024.

Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to return to Delhi, relaxes restrictive bail condition in Bhima Koregaon Case

17/12/2025

SabrangIndia / by SabrangIndia

Court recognises financial hardship, prolonged trial delay, and the human cost of territorial bail restrictions on a 73-year-old activist; NIA conditions accepted to ensure continued oversight
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, December 17, relaxed the bail conditions imposed on human rights activist and Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha, permitting him to relocate from Mumbai to his permanent residence in Delhi. The relief was granted by a division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam C. Chandak, which acknowledged the personal, financial, and social hardship Navlakha has faced since his release on bail.
Read more


Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to move to Delhi till trial ends

17/12/2025

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Navlakha was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2023 with the condition that he could not leave the Court’s jurisdiction without prior permission.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday permitted human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, to shift base to New Delhi for the pendency of the trial. [Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Authority]
Read more


Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to move to Delhi while on bail

17/12/2025

Maktoobmedia.com / by Maktoob Staff

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who is out on bail in the Bhima Koregaon UAPA case, to shift and reside in New Delhi during the pendency of the case.
The human rights activist was, however, directed not to leave Delhi without the trial court’s permission and will have to surrender his passport to the concerned authorities.
Read more


Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to shift from Mumbai to Delhi during pendency of Elgaar Parishad case

17/12/2025

The Indian Express / by Omkar Gokhale

The Bombay High Court cited Gautam Navlakha’s age and financial struggles as reasons for relaxing his bail conditions in the Elgaar Parishad case.
The Bombay High Court Wednesday allowed human rights activist Gautam Navlakha to shift and reside in New Delhi during the pendency of the Elgaar Parishad case, in which he is an accused out on bail. Navlakha is, however, directed not to leave Delhi without the trial court’s permission, and he will have to surrender his passport to the authorities concerned.
Read more


Bombay HC says it is inclined to allow Gautam Navlakha to return to Delhi

16/12/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The bench noted that the journalist and activist is 73 years old and lives away from his family.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated verbally that it was inclined to allow Gautam Navlakha, one of 16 persons accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, to move to his home in Delhi until the trial commences, Live Law reported.
The bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam Chandak, said that the 73-year-old journalist and activist is not a flight risk and has been complying with bail conditions, PTI reported.
Read more


Bombay High Court indicates it may allow Gautam Navlakha to shift to Delhi until Bhima Koregaon trial begins

16/12/2025

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

A bail condition restricts Navlakha from leaving the jurisdiction of Bombay High Court.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated that it will permit human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case, to shift to his Delhi home until the trial in the case commences.
Read more


“Person At This Age Would Be Lost Away From Family”: Bombay High Court Orally Remarks In Gautam Navlakha’s Plea To Shift Back To Delhi

16/12/2025

Live Law / by Narsi Benwal

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated its inclination to permit rights activist Gautam Navlakha to relocate to Delhi, while hearing his plea seeking relaxation of a bail condition that restrains him from leaving Mumbai in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case.
The matter was heard by a Division Bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Shyam Chandak.
Read more


Also watch/read:
Video | Gautam Navlakha on India’s Prisons: Punishment Precedes Trial (Outlook / Oct 2025)
HC seeks NIA’s response to Navlakha’s plea to reside in Delhi during pendency of Elgaar Parishad case (Indian Express / Oct 2025)
Navlakha files application in court seeking permission to stay in Delhi (The Indian Express / Apr 2025)
Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon accused struggle to find house in city (Hindustan Times / Nov 2022)

‘When you are jailed, they want to break you. The best way to resist is to not succumb’: Hany Babu

‘When you are jailed, they want to break you. The best way to resist is to not succumb’: Hany Babu

I realised that through Allah I can have the strength to face what was before me: Hany Babu

15/12/2025

Frontline / by Ajaz Ashraf

The activist says prison strips life of meaning, and faith in Allah became a source of strength during his five years in jail.
… In this interview, Hany Babu talks about freedom, the daily brutalities of jail life, and the turn towards Islam and Allah that sustained him during his imprisonment.

Edited excerpts:
You were arrested on July 28, 2020, and released on bail on December 4 this year (2025). How does freedom feel from inside and outside jail? Does it involve aspects of life that we take for granted only because they seem insignificant?

I was in jail for five years and four months. What you say about insignificant aspects of life constituting freedom is indeed true.
Read more


‘When you are jailed, they want to break you. The best way to resist is to not succumb’: Hany Babu

15/12/2025

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Out on bail, Elgaar Parishad case accused speaks about his five years in prison, staying in touch with family, and letter exchanges that felt like “living in multiple time zones.”
For the five years that he spent in jail as an undertrial in the Elgaar Parishad case, says Hany Babu M T, he often dreamt that he was back teaching at Delhi University, attending academic conferences, or meeting authorities over implementation of OBC reservation (a pet concern of his).
Read more


Also read:
After more than five years in prison, Prof. Hany Babu granted regular bail in Bhima Koregaon case (The Leaflet / Dec 2025)
Bombay HC bail for Hany Babu signals a critical reassessment of the Bhima Koregaon Case (CJP / Dec 2025)
And then there were 3: One more granted bail, charges not framed yet, Elgaar Parishad case creaks (The Indian Express / Dc 2025)

Indian Jesuits to continue fight to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name

Indian Jesuits to continue fight to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name

PUDR campaign

Indian Jesuits to continue fight to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name

18/12/2025

UCA News / by Michael Gonsalves

Court-appointed guardian to file fresh petition against official report concluding it was a ‘natural,’ not ‘custodial death’
Jesuits in India say they will continue the legal battle to clear the name of their late confrere, Father Stan Swamy, who died in police custody while awaiting trial for alleged sedition and anti-state activities four years ago.
The 84-year-old Jesuit who died in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on July 5, 2021, was widely respected as an activist priest for his work among tribal people in eastern Jharkhand and other states for more than five decades.
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Ex-St Xavier’s College principal to challenge Stan Swamy’s custodial death report

12/12/2025

India Today / by Vidya

The magistrate’s enquiry report, submitted by the Maharashtra government two months back, confirmed that Swamy died due to natural causes. The report, prepared by Bandra Magistrate Komalsing Rajput following an enquiry on April 24, 2024, concluded that the 84-year-old activist died from “septicemia due to lobar pneumonia (natural). 
The Bombay High Court on Thursday permitted Frazer Mascarenhance, the former principal of St. Xavier’s College, to file a fresh petition, challenging the enquiry report of the late Father Stan Swamy in the Elgar Parishad case in 2018.
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Bombay High Court Disposes Of Plea Seeking To Quash Observations Against Father Stan Swamy In Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon Case

12/12/2025

Live Law / by Narsi Benwal

The Bombay High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition filed in December 2021 by the next of kin of Father Stan Swamy, who sought clearing the now deceased (Swamy’s) name from the Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon case.
The plea was filed by Father Fraser Mascarenhas, the former principal of Xavier’s College in Mumbai through senior advocate Mihir Desai, argued that the findings of the special NIA court against Swamy “besmirches” his reputation and body of work in tribal and human rights. The findings further violate his fundamental right to reputation under Article 21 of the Constitution. Accordingly, they should be quashed.
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Bombay High Court Disposes Plea to Quash Remarks Against Fr. Stan Swamy

12/12/2025

Catholicconnect.in / by Catholic Connect Reporter

The Bombay High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition filed in December 2021 by the next of kin of Father Stan Swamy, who sought to clear the now deceased priest’s name from the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case. The plea, filed by Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, through senior advocate Mihir Desai, argued that the findings of the special NIA court against Swamy “besmirches” his reputation and body of work in tribal and human rights. The findings, they argued, violated his fundamental right to reputation under Article 21 of the Constitution and should therefore be quashed.
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Jesuit priest to challenge reports declaring Stan Swamy’s death natural, HC allows fresh plea

12/12/2025

Hindustan Times / by Karuna Nidhi

Father Frazer Mascarenhas plans to challenge reports declaring Father Stan Swamy’s death natural, citing prison conditions as a factor in his health decline.
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College and a close associate of the late Father Stan Swamy, told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that he intends to challenge both the magistrate’s inquiry report and the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) order that upheld it. The two reports had concluded that Swamy, who died in custody while awaiting trial in the Elgar Parishad case, had died a natural death.
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Stan Swamy’s kin to challenge magistrate report, SHRC finding death due to natural causes

12/12/2025

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Mascarenhas said the magistrate’s report had concluded that Swamy’s death was due to natural causes, a finding later affirmed by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College, on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that he will challenge the magistrate’s judicial inquiry report into the custodial death of his late friend Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case.
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Also read:
Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court (India Today / Oct 2025)
NIA opposes plea to clear Stan Swamy’s name, says it would set wrong precedent (India Today / Sep 2025)
I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Aug 2021)

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection (Indian Social Institute | by Stan Swamy | Aug 2021)

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

Hany Babu walks out of jail after spending nearly 2,000 days under UAPA

Hany Babu walks out of jail after spending nearly 2,000 days under UAPA

by Maktoob / @MaktoobMedia (Dec 6, 2025):
Dr. Hany Babu walks out of jail after spending nearly 2,000 days under UAPA
Dr. Hany Babu, scholar and noted social justice activist, walked out of jail today after he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court, spending over five and a half years in jail under UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon

by Dalit Camera / @DalitCamera (Dec 6,2025):
Hany Babu is out of prison. 5 and half years on fabrication. 


After more than five years in prison, Prof. Hany Babu granted regular bail in Bhima Koregaon case

05/12/2025

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

With Prof. Babu being granted bail, twelve persons arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case are now out on bail.
On Thursday, the Bombay High Court granted regular bail to former Delhi University professor Hany Babu in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.
A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale ordered Babu’s release on the ground of prolonged pre-trial incarceration.
Babu was arrested on April 14, 2020 and has been in jail ever since. He has spent more than five years behind bars as an undertrial prisoner.
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Bombay High Court grants bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Hany Babu after 5 years in jail [Read order]

04/12/2025

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Babu was arrested on July 28, 2020, and has been in custody for over five years.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Delhi University professor Hany Babu arrested in 2018 for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence case [Hany Babu v. National Investigation Agency & Ors.].
The prosecuting agency sought a stay on the order to enable them to file an appeal against it before the Supreme Court.
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