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‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling

‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling

Scroll.in / by Vineet Bhalla

Mahesh Raut was granted bail in September but he remains in prison. A similar fate might await Gautam Navlakha, who was granted bail on Tuesday.
More than five years after he was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha was finally granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Tuesday. However, he is unlikely to walk out of prison soon.
Another person accused in the case, activist Mahesh Raut, was granted bail by the High Court in September. Nearly four months later, he is still in prison.
Read more


Also read:
Supreme Court extends stay on bail granted to Mahesh Raut again (The Leaflet / Oct 2023)
Supreme Court extends stay on bail granted to Mahesh Raut (The Leaflet / Sep 27, 2023)
Bhima Koregaon: Bombay High Court grants regular bail to Mahesh Raut (The Leaflet / Sep 21, 2023)

Bombay HC grants bail to Gautam Navlakha but stays order for NIA to file appeal [read order]

Bombay HC grants bail to Gautam Navlakha but stays order for NIA to file appeal [read order]

Gautam Navlakha

No evidence to show Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha was involved in terrorist act: Bombay High Court [read order]

21/12/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The Court the evidence on record indicated that Navlakha can at the most be said to have been a member of the banned CPI (Maoist) and therefore, it would only attract offences under Sections 13 and 38 of UAPA.
There is no prima facie evidence to show that activist Gautam Navlakha was involved in any terrorist act under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Bombay High Court observed while granting him bail in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018. [Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Agency & Ors.]
Read more
Read order


No material to show that Gautam Navlakha committed terrorist act, says Bombay HC in bail order

21/12/2023

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The court allowed the activist’s bail petition on Tuesday, and the detailed judgement was made public on Wednesday.
The Bombay High Court said on Tuesday that there was no material to suggest that activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha had committed a terrorist act as defined by the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Journalist Gautam Navlakha In Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case [read order]

20/12/2023

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

There is no material to infer senior journalist and accused Gautam Navlakha had committed a terrorist Act as contemplated under Section 15 of UAPA, the Bombay High Court observed in its detailed order granting him bail in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case.
“The actual involvement of the appellant in any terrorist act cannot be even inferred from any of the communications and/ or statements of the witnesses,” the court observed.
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Read order


Bombay High Court grants, stays bail to Gautam Navlakha

19/12/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Following a concerning trend, a Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige has allowed a stay of three weeks on the bail Order.
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court granted bail to journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha.
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Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Gautam Navlakha In Bhima Koregaon Case; Stays Order For 3 Weeks

19/12/2023

Live Law / by Livelaw News Network

The Bombay High Court has granted bail to senior journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon- Elgar Parishad case over alleged Maoist links.
The order was passed by a division bench headed by Justice AS Gadkari, making him the seventh accused to be granted bail in the the case.
After the NIA urged the court to stay the order for a period of six weeks, the court stayed the order for three weeks.
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Bombay High Court Grants Bail to Gautam Navlakha

19/12/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

He is the seventh accused to get bail in the Bhima Koregaon case after Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha, accused in Bhima Koregaon riot case of 2018.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and SG Dige imposed the same conditions for bail on Navlakha as imposed on the co-accused, Anand Teltumbde and Mahesh Raut.
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Bombay High Court Grants Bail to Gautam Navlakha in Elgar Parishad Case

19/12/2023

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The court has put a three-week stay on its decision in which the National Investigation Agency can approach the Supreme Court.
… Five of the accused – lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, poet Varavara Rao, academic Anand Teltumbe, lawyer Arun Ferreira and activist Vernon Gonsalves – are currently out on bail. Father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest, passed away while in custody.
Activist Mahesh Raut was granted bail in September, but remains in jail as the stay on that decision was extended.
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Bombay High Court asks probe agency NIA for ‘correct facts’ in Elgar Parishad case

Bombay High Court asks probe agency NIA for ‘correct facts’ in Elgar Parishad case

Poster by @/bakeryprasad

India Today / by Vidya

The Bombay High Court has told the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to give a proper response to a request from some of the Elgar Parishad accused who are seeking default bail. The court mentioned that there are incorrect facts in the documents submitted.
While observing that “incorrect facts are stated in the pleadings”, the Bombay High Court has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a proper reply to the petition filed by some of the accused in the Elgar Parishad case while praying for default bail.
… The court then adjourned the hearing of the petitions to January 16.
Read more


Bombay High Court rejects default bail plea of Varavara Rao and seven other accused (The Leaflet / May 2022)
Bombay HC grants default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj, but declines the same to eight other accused (The Leaflet / Dec 2021)

Contrary To SC’s Rules Of Assignment, At Least 8 Politically Sensitive Cases Moved To One Judge In 4 Months

Contrary To SC’s Rules Of Assignment, At Least 8 Politically Sensitive Cases Moved To One Judge In 4 Months


An analysis of eight politically sensitive cases shows they were moved to Justice Bela M Trivedi of the Supreme Court over the past four months, even though the rules of assignment say they should remain with the senior judge or before a judge hearing a similar case. Close to six years after four Supreme Court justices raised the issue of cases being assigned before a specific judge, senior lawyers have now questioned the manner of moving cases by the ‘master of the roster’, the Chief Justice of India.

The Case Of Mahesh Raut
A similar pattern is visible in the incarcerated Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad violence case accused Raut’s bail plea.
Raut, who is a researcher and forest rights activist, was arrested in June 2018 by the Pune police for his alleged connection with the violence that broke out on 1 January 2018, in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune.
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Also read:
‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling (Scroll.in / Dec 2023)
Bhima Koregaon: Bombay High Court grants regular bail to Mahesh Raut (The Leaflet / Sep 2023)

As Watali casts a long shadow, Jagtap’s bail plea adjourned, to be heard after Shoma Sen’s

As Watali casts a long shadow, Jagtap’s bail plea adjourned, to be heard after Shoma Sen’s

Jyoti Jagtap

The Leaflet / by Shrikha Gowri

A division bench of the Supreme Court said it will next hear Jyoti Jagtap’s bail petition in the third week of January, after Shoma Sen’s regular bail plea has been heard.
Today, the Supreme Court said it will hear anti-caste activist and musical performer Jyoti Jagtap’s bail plea after Shoma Sen’s bail petition.
Read more


Also read:
SC says principles of Arun and Vernon bail judgment to apply to Jyoti Jagtap (The Leaflet / Nov 1, 2023)
Supreme Court asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)

Supreme Court Adjourns Shoma Sen’s Bail Hearing Until January 10 / SC quotes Watali judgment

Supreme Court Adjourns Shoma Sen’s Bail Hearing Until January 10 / SC quotes Watali judgment

Shoma Sen’s Bail Hearing in SC Adjourned Yet Again, Until January 10

07/12/2023

Newsclick / by Newsclick Report

Sen is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case along with 14 other activists and academics, and is charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act.
The Supreme Court adjourned English professor Shoma Sen’s bail hearing in the Bhima Koregaon case until January 10, indicating that it would have to examine if any fresh allegations were levelled against her in the supplementary chargesheets.
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Supreme Court Adjourns UAPA Accused Shoma Sen’s Bail Hearing Until January 10

07/12/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

‘Were Fresh Allegations Made In Supplementary Chargesheets And Did The High Court Consider Them?’ Supreme Court Asks During Shoma Sen’s Bail Hearing
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (December 6), while hearing English professor and Bhima Koregaon-accused Shoma Sen’s plea against a Bombay High Court order asking her to approach a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) for bail, indicated that it would have to examine whether the supplementary chargesheets filed in the case levelled any fresh allegations against her and these were brought on record before the high court.
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Supreme Court quotes Watali judgment in Shoma Sen’s bail application

06/12/2023

The Leaflet / by Gurismran Kaur Bakshi

Shoma Sen has been incarcerated for five-and-a-half years and her bail plea has been pending before the Supreme Court for nearly six months.
“[DO] I have to run from court to court just for bail? That cannot be by virtue of Article 21. It has been five-and-a-half years,” decried senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen in a bail plea.
Today, the Supreme Court division Bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih partly heard a regular bail application of Sen.
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Live Thread by Live Law / @LiveLawIndia (Dec 6)
#SupremeCourt to hear interim medical bail plea of English professor and Bhima Koregaon-accused Shoma Sen on grounds of her deteriorating health.

Bench adjourns hearing until tomorrow.
Bose J: Tomorrow, first item.

Live Thread by Bar & Bench / @lawbarandbench (Dec 6)
Supreme Court hearing bail plea of Prof Shoma Sen, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
ASG KM Nataraj: HC did not have chance to examine on merits, did not look at all the evidence.
Sr Adv Anand Grover for Sen: Her plea is pending in SC for 6 months. We have shown everything to SC and HC.
Justice Aniruddha Bose: Technical point Mr Nataraj is correct.

Justice Bose: We will continue tomorrow. Keep it part-heard.

Also read:
Fearing grant of medical bail to Shoma Sen, NIA pleads fast-tracking of hearing of regular bail (The Leaflet / Nov 30, 2023)
Gonsalves and Ferreira bail judgment: A step in the right direction but where will we go from here? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
“Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison (InSAF India / Jul 2023)

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / April 2023)

Fearing grant of medical bail to Shoma Sen, NIA pleads fast-tracking of hearing of regular bail

Fearing grant of medical bail to Shoma Sen, NIA pleads fast-tracking of hearing of regular bail

Poster by PUDR, June 2023

Fearing grant of medical bail to Shoma Sen, NIA pleads fast-tracking of hearing of regular bail

30/11/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

In a departure from what has become an unfortunate practice of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in bail matters, of seeking long adjournments from courts for various reasons, as soon as the Bench expressed an inclination to grant Shoma Sen medical bail, NIA counsel Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj said he is ready to argue the matter of the regular bail as soon as next Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to argue against the regular bail plea filed by women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen on Wednesday, December 6.
Read more


Supreme Court adjourned Shoma Sen’s bail plea yet again

28/11/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

In what has become an unfortunate repetition, a division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih today adjourned the hearing of the bail plea by Shoma Sen once more.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the bail plea filed by women rights activist and academic Shoma Sen once again.
A division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih allowed the adjournment sought by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Read more


Also read:
Since Evidence Tampering Not Ruled Out, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson Want Chargesheets Quashed (The Wire / Oct 2023)
“Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison (InSAF India / Jul 2023)

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / April 2023)

Supreme Court allows state time to file counter-affidavit in Surendra Gadling bail plea

Supreme Court allows state time to file counter-affidavit in Surendra Gadling bail plea

Poster by PUDR, June 2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Gadling, stated that evidence recovered from Gadling in the Bhima Koregaon case is being repurposed for use in the Gadchiroli arson case.
Wednesday, the Supreme Court allowed the Maharashtra government time to file a counter-affidavit in the bail plea by human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist Surendra Gadling.
… The Bench directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit within one week and posted the matter for hearing in two weeks.
Read more


Also read:

Does opposing mines & protecting our forests mean we support “Maoists”, Adivasis protest mining in Gadchiroli (Sabrangindia / Nov 2023)
Supreme Court issues notice in bail plea of Surendra Gadling (The Leaflet / Oct 2023)
Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)
Now Gadchiroli Police takes custody of Surendra Gadling, P Varavara Rao, prompting senior lawyers to say this is ‘ever-greening of charges’ (The Leaflet / Jan 2019)

NIA court allows Varavara Rao to travel to Hyderabad to undergo cataract surgery in his left eye

NIA court allows Varavara Rao to travel to Hyderabad to undergo cataract surgery in his left eye

VV Rao, Feb 2021

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

On October 23, the Bombay High Court had allowed Rao to travel to Hyderabad for surgery in his right eye. The high court had directed Rao to approach the National Investigation Agency court for surgery for the other eye, after returning to Mumbai following the first surgery.
Today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria allowed activist, writer and teacher and poet Dr P. Varavara Rao to travel to Hyderabad to undergo cataract surgery on his left eye.
Read more


Bombay HC allows Varavara Rao to undergo cataract surgery in Hyderabad (The Indian Express / Oct 2023)
Supreme Court grants permanent medical bail to P. Varavara Rao in Bhima Koregaon case (The Leaflet / Aug 2022)
Varavara Rao granted six-month bail on medical grounds (The Leaflet / Feb 2021)

Supreme Court adjourns hearing of bail plea by Shoma Sen again

Supreme Court adjourns hearing of bail plea by Shoma Sen again

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing on behalf of Shoma Sen, emphasised that Sen has been lodged in jail for five and a half years without trial and the bail hearing before the Supreme Court has been pending for five and a half months.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the bail plea filed by women rights activist and academic Shoma Sen.
Read more


Also read:
Since Evidence Tampering Not Ruled Out, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson Want Chargesheets Quashed (The Wire / Oct 2023)
“Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison (InSAF India / Jul 2023)

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / April 2023)