Persecution – Page 20 – free them all

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

11/09/2023 Asha

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.
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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.
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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.
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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)

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

05/09/2023 Asha

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).
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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)

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

01/09/2023 Asha

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

02/09/2023

Live Law / by Anuj Nakade

en | 7:11 | 2013
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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].
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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)

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Shoma Sen’s Plea For Interim Bail On Medical Grounds

23/08/2023 Asha

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Shoma Sen’s Plea For Interim Bail On Medical Grounds

23/08/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear an interim bail application filed by English professor and Bhima Koregaon-accused Shoma Sen on grounds of her deteriorating health.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and SVN Bhatti was hearing a petition challenging a January 17 order of the Bombay High Court, by which it directed Sen to approach the special court trying her case, for bail.
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Supreme Court seeks NIA reply on interim bail for Elgar Parishad accused activist

23/08/2023

Hindustan Times / by Abraham Thomas

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and SVN Bhatti issued notice on the application by Shoma Sen and directed NIA to submit its response by October 4, the next date of hearing
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea filed by activist Shoma Sen, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, seeking interim bail on account of her deteriorating health.
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Also read:
● “Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison (InSAF India / Jul 2023)

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

SC asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap

22/08/2023 Asha

Supreme Court asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap

22/08/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

While granting bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, the Supreme Court had observed that the materials eluded to as part of incriminating evidence against the accused persons cannot justify their continued custody.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court inquired whether the “formula” adopted in granting bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira can be applied to the bail plea of anti-caste activist and musical performer, Jyoti Jagtap.
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Does Jyoti Jagtap’s Case Fit `Formula´ in Which Gonsalves an Ferreira Were Granted Bail? Supreme Court Asks

22/08/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

Deciding the bail application of activist and Bhima Koregaon-accused Jyoti Jagtap would involve a determination of whether her case ‘fits the formula’ in which the bail pleas of co-accused Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira were decided, the Supreme Court orally observed on Tuesday, while adjourning Jagtap’s bail hearing until September 21.
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On Jyoti Jagtap’s appeal for bail, Supreme Court gives NIA 2 more weeks to respond

22/08/2023

Hindustan Times / by Abraham Thomas

The Supreme Court said that it would assess at the next hearing in September if Jyoti Jagtap’s bail case fits into the formula it had laid down in July
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to the bail request filed by Jyoti Jagtap, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018, and indicated that it may go by the “formula” laid down in the verdict that led to the grant of bail to two other accused, Vernon and Arun Ferreira, last month.
… Jagtap, who is a member of Kabir Kala Manch, was accused of having links with the banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) and was denied bail by the Bombay High Court on October 17 last year.
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Also read:
● Gonsalves and Ferreira bail judgment: A step in the right direction but where will we go from here? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Supreme Court allows respondents to file counter affidavits to bail plea of Jyoti Jagtap (The Leaflet / Jul 2023)
● Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is Now the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

NIA in a quandary as bail condition for mobile phone tethering turns out to be a tug

17/08/2023 Asha

Vernon & Arun walk out of jail. Aug 5, 2023.

NIA in a quandary as bail condition for mobile phone tethering turns out to be a tug

17/08/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The bail conditions set by the Supreme Court during the grant of regular bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira mandated pairing mobile phones of the duo with the devices of the investigating officers. Now the National Investigation Agency has said that the concerned investigating officers stand to lose their privacy.
“If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,” wrote German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in his book Beyond Good And Evil.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) seems to have discovered the meaning of the quote recently.
… The matter will be further heard on September 5.
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NIA expresses concern over bail condition asking officers to pair phones with Bhima Koregaon accused

18/08/2023

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The central agency told a special court that the condition could infringe on the privacy of the investigating officers.
The National Investigation Agency on Thursday expressed concern about the Supreme Court’s bail condition that activists Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves pair their mobile phones with investigating officers.
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Also read:
● PUDR welcomes the release on bail of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira today, but protests onerous bail conditions (PUDR / Aug 5, 2023)

NIA claims fact-finding conducted by Gautam Navlakha was sponsored to further terrorist activities

08/08/2023 Asha

poster campaign 2020

by Bar & Bench – Live Threads / @lawbarandbench (Aug 9, 2023)
NIA arguments in bail hearing of Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha will continue on August 24, 2023.

NIA claims fact-finding conducted by Gautam Navlakha was sponsored to further terrorist activities

09/08/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The National Investigation Agency has also claimed that the perception of resistance from members of the banned organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) against Navlakha was deliberately created.
On Wednesday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige continued hearing the bail application filed by journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha.
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NIA emphasises charges of conspiracy and common intention to further terrorist activities against Gautam Navlakha

08/08/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The National Investigation Agency argued that the individual roles of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case should not be looked into in isolation from the larger conspiracy.
On Monday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige continued hearing the bail application filed by journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha.
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Gautam Navlakha part of urban naxal movement which arranges manpower, funds for rural naxal struggle: NIA to Bombay High Court

08/08/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Responding to Navlakha’s claims that he was not involved in any violent acts for seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018, ASG Devang Vyas argued that Navlakha was assigned a role in the larger conspiracy.
Human rights activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha was part of an urban movement to arrange for logistics for the rural naxal movement, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Monday while opposing Navlakha’s bail application.
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Probe agency opposes Gautam Navlakha’s bail plea, says ‘Part of Urban Naxals’

08/08/2023

India Today / by Vidya

The National Investigation Agency opposed the bail plea of Elgar Parishad case accused, Gautam Navlakha, in the Bombay High Court.
Opposing the bail plea of Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, the National Investigation Agency told the Bombay High Court that Navlakha was part of “Urban Naxals” to arrange logistics for Naxal movements in rural areas.
Read more

Also read:
● ‘Urban Naxal’ is a label to terrorise intellectuals: Prabhat Patnaik (The Telegraph / Feb 2023)
● From Anti-National to Urban Naxal: The Trajectory of Dissent in India – How the term Urban Naxal came to being (Newsclick / Sep 2018)

Gautam Navlakha has a tremendous archive of writings from the 1980s to the present, documented by The Friends of Gautam Navlakha.
To read some of his recent writings and a full list of his articles with Economic & Political Weekly, the NewsClick newsportal and the platform Sanhati visit: Gautam Navlakha – Journalist, Human Rights Defender, Political Prisoner

Activists Vernon Gonsalves & Arun Ferreira, walk out of jail finally

05/08/2023 Asha

By Meera Sanghamitra / @meeracomposes (Aug 5, 2023)
Activists #VernonGonsalves & #ArunFerreira, walk out of jail finally! Small mercies after unjust incarceration over 5 long years! Zindabad, Salaam, Arun & Vernon! Ur beautiful smiles despite so much of injustice, puts this entire system to shame!
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners

Also read:
● Supreme Court grants bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, with tethers (The Leaflet / July 28, 2023)

Bombay High Court hears fresh bail plea of Gautam Navlakha

03/08/2023 Asha

Bombay High Court hears fresh bail plea of Gautam Navlakha

04/08/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Advocate Yug Chaudhry, representing Gautam Navalkha, sought parity with the recent judgment of the Supreme Court granting bail to co-accused Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira. Chaudhry took the court through the material cited by the National Investigation Agency, claiming there was no evidence to prove the commission of any “terrorist act” by Navlakha.
On Friday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige heard a fresh bail application filed by journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha.
… The matter is posted for further hearing on August 7.
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‘If I write mercy plea for Kasab…’: Elgar parishad accused asks Bombay High Court

03/08/2023

India Today / by Vidya

Gautam Navlakha has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He has been behind bars since the last three and half years and is currently under house arrest.
The bail plea hearing of Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, began before the bench of Justices AS Gadkari and SG Dige on Thursday. Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhari, representing Navlakha, raised significant concerns regarding the charges levied against the activist under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including waging war against the country and conspiracy.
Read more

Also read:
● Supreme Court grants bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, with tethers (The Leaflet / July 28, 2023)
● Why the SC Judgment Granting Bail to Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira Is So Significant (The Wire / Jul 2023)
● Why the Bombay High Court granted regular bail to Dr. Anand Teltumbde: An explainer (The Leaflet / Dec 2022)

Prison Not The Reform Centre As Claimed, It’s Centre Of Sadism: Prof. Anand Teltumbde

01/08/2023 Asha

Poster by Siddesh Gautam / #bakeryprasad

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Professor Anand Teltumbde fought for civil and labor rights while holding various managerial profiles during his illustrious corporate career and had only ever passed by a prison while commuting to work.
“If a profile like mine could be tarnished over night as such an oxymoron as urban Naxal, then I thought nothing would be impossible in the world”, he says months after his release on bail in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case where he is accused of Maoist links along with several rights activists.
In this interview, Teltumbde talks about his observations from behind prison bars, the four books he authored during his time in prison, including a book dedicated to Ambedkar and why he declined to avail court permission to meet his mother.
Read more

● Multi-part interview by Neeta Kolhakar

○ Part 1: Anand Teltumbde: I never imagined I would have a jail life (Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhakar / Jul 25, 2023)
○ Part 2: Anand Teltumbde: If my mother knew of my arrest, she would have died of shock (Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhakar / Jul 28, 2023)
○ Part 3: Rama Teltumbde: We struggled to see each day through (Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhakar / Jul 31, 2023)

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022

en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails.
Watch video