Browsed by
Category: Persecution

Supreme Court Extends Interim Protection Of Varavara Rao; Adjourns Bail Plea To July 19

Supreme Court Extends Interim Protection Of Varavara Rao; Adjourns Bail Plea To July 19


VV Rao, Feb 2021

Supreme Court Extends Interim Protection Of Varavara Rao; Adjourns Bail Plea To July 19

12/07/2022

Live Law / by Livelaw News Network

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned to July 19 the hearing of the petition filed by octogenarian P Varavara Rao seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
A bench comprising Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia granted the adjournment at a request made by Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta.
The SG requested for adjournment and agreed that the interim protection given by the Bombay High Court to Rao from surrender, which is expiring today, can be extended.
Read more

SC extends activist Varavara Rao’s interim bail till further orders

12/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

His plea seeking permanent medical bail will be heard on July 19.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the interim bail granted to activist Varavara Rao till further orders, Live Law reported. The court will hear the activist’s plea seeking permanent medical bail on July 19.
Read more

Supreme Court to hear Varavara Rao’s appeal against Bombay High Court’s refusal to extend his medical bail

30/06/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

Earlier today, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court directed its registry to list on July 11 the appeal filed by poet, activist and teacher P. Varavara Rao, accused of inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon case, against the Bombay High Court’s order refusing to extend his medical bail.
Senior advocate Anand Grover mentioned the appeal before a vacation bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala, seeking an urgent listing of the appeal, given that the due time for Rao to surrender is expiring on July 13.
Read more

Different Courts Different Orders On Use Of Nets In “Mosquito Prone” Taloja Prison / Navlakha and Gorkhe denied net

Different Courts Different Orders On Use Of Nets In “Mosquito Prone” Taloja Prison / Navlakha and Gorkhe denied net

Drawing by Arun Ferreira
Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Different Courts Different Orders On Use Of Nets In “Mosquito Prone” Taloja Prison

09/07/2022

Live Law / by Live Law News Network

Just days after a special NIA court allowed an accused in the Antilia Terror Scare Case to use a mosquito net in the Taloja prison, another special court refused the same relief to Sagar Gorkhe and journalist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case.
Special NIA Judge Rajesh Katariya in the Elgar case, however, directed the Superintendent of Taloja prison to take all precautions against mosquitoes.
Read more

NIA court rejects plea to use mosquito nets in prison

08/07/2022

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

It’s most cruel and inhuman to deny inmates mosquito nets, says advocate for the accused, Susan Abraham.
On Thursday, a special National Intelligence Agency (‘NIA’) court in Mumbai presided by Special Judge Rajesh Kataria, rejected the plea filed by Gautam Navlakha and Sagar Gorkhe, to use mosquito nets in prison. The court allowed Navlakha and Gorkhe to use mosquito repellant ointments and natural mosquito incense sticks.
… Further, activist Jyoti Jagtap, another co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case, has prayed for permission to read books. A reply has to be filed by the State on Jagtap’s plea.
Read more

Court rejects demand for nets, but asks jail to take precautions against mosquitoes

08/07/2022

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

A special court on Thursday rejected applications filed by two accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, 73-year-old journalist Gautam Navlakha and activist Sagar Gorkhe, for access to mosquito nets at Taloja Central Jail where they are lodged. The court rejected their pleas but said that it is giving directions to the jail to deal with mosquitoes.
Read more

Navlakha, another Elgaar accused denied mosquito net in prison

07/07/2022

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

The court has permitted Navlakha and Gorkhe to use mosquito repellents, ointments and natural mosquito incense sticks. It has asked the jail authority to submit the compliance report.
Read more

Also read:
● As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net (The Leaflet / May 2022)

Default bail pleas of five Elgaar accused: Matter already decided by Bombay HC, says NIA Court

Default bail pleas of five Elgaar accused: Matter already decided by Bombay HC, says NIA Court

Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter

A special court that recently rejected the default bail pleas of five of the Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad accused, has said in its reasoned order for doing so, that the ground on which they were seeking bail was already considered and decided by the Bombay High Court and they had no right to raise it in their present pleas.
The applications were filed by Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhavale, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut.
Read more

Also read:
● NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused (The Leaflet / June 2022)

Are prisoners entitled to make phone calls? Bombay HC asks prison authorities in Navlakha’s plea

Are prisoners entitled to make phone calls? Bombay HC asks prison authorities in Navlakha’s plea

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Why can telephone conversations not be reintroduced, might reduce footfall in prison, the division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and NR Borkar mused.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked Maharashtra prison authorities to clear their stand on whether Bhima Koregaon violence accused Gautam Navlakha is entitled to make telephonic and/or video conference calls from prison.
Read more

Update by Bar & Bench (Jul 13, 2022)
+++ Bombay High Court adjourns hearing on the application filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha seeking access to telephonic facilities in prison by a week +++

Also read:
● ‘Emotional Torture’: Why Don’t Indian Jails Give Inmates a Right to Phone Calls? (The Quint / Nov 2021)
● Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls (Sabrangindia / Oct 2021)

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary / Protest Fast by 11 Co-Accused

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary / Protest Fast by 11 Co-Accused

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary

05/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Vernon Gonsalves

The Jesuit priest, who had been arrested in the Bhima Koregoan case, died in custody on July 5, 2021, at the age of 84.

Dear Stan,
It’s now around a year to the day they said you went away. But it doesn’t seem as if you’ve gone. Guys like you can hardly just go away. Not from me at least, not from many many more you worked with and amongst. Actually you haven’t gone, in fact you’ve come. You’ve come to the lakhs who’ve come to know you over the last year and you’ll continue coming, down the ages, to millions more. You can’t go away, you won’t go away.
Read more

On Father Stan Swamy’s Death Anniversary, Elgar Parishad Activists Observe Protest Fast in Prison

05/07/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Activists and lawyers have accused the jail administration of inhuman treatment towards and lack of adequate medical care for the priest and other accused in the case.
On July 5, last year, 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody in Mumbai.
Swamy was the 16th and last person to be arrested in the highly controversial Elgar Parishad case. He, like his co-accused in the case, suffered from prolonged and serious health complications while in custody. Swamy passed away after testing positive for COVID-19. His co-prisoners and lawyers have blamed the state for not allowing adequate medical help to reach him on time.
A year later, protesting against alleged state apathy and lack of accountability, 11 of his co-prisoners have decided to observe a day-long fast on the day of Swamy’s passing.
Read more

Eleven activists accused in Elgar Parishad case observe day-long fast in Taloja prison on 1st death anniversary of Stan Swamy

05/07/2022

Midday.com / by pti

The protesting activists alleged that the death of Father Stan Swamy (83) was “brutal assassination by the prison administration, the NIA, and the government.” Swamy’s co-accused and activist Sudhir Dhawale, in a letter written to the Taloja prison superintendent and the case lawyers, claimed there has been no change in the jail condition, including general apathy among the prison administration and lack of medical facilities, which were among the several causes that led to Swamy’s death.
Read more

Also read
● How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in / Aug 2021)

Bombay HC Grants NIA ‘Last Chance’ to File Reply to Hany Babu’s Bail Plea

Bombay HC Grants NIA ‘Last Chance’ to File Reply to Hany Babu’s Bail Plea

Hany Babu

Bombay HC Grants NIA ‘Last Chance’ to File Reply to Hany Babu’s Bail Plea

01/07/2022

The Quint / by pti

On 8 June, the NIA had told another bench of Bombay HC it will file its reply to Babu’s plea within two weeks.
The Bombay High Court on Friday, 1 July, granted a week’s time to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) to file its reply to a bail plea filed by Delhi University associate professor and Elgar Parishad case accused Hany Babu.
Read more

Also read:
● Supreme Court to hear Varavara Rao’s appeal against Bombay High Court’s refusal to extend his medical bail (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused (The Leaflet / June 2022)

SC to hear Varavara Rao’s appeal against Bombay HC’s refusal to extend his medical bail

SC to hear Varavara Rao’s appeal against Bombay HC’s refusal to extend his medical bail

Varavara Rao

Varavara Rao’s regular bail plea to ‘stay alive’

01/07/2022

The Telegraph / by R. Balaji

Poet recalls how Stan Swamy had died in custody a year ago shortly before his bail application was to be heard.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea for regular bail from poet and Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links accused P. Varavara Rao, 81, who cited multiple ailments including Parkinson’s Disease and expressed fear that further imprisonment would kill him.
Rao, now out on interim bail, recalled how 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, a fellow accused and Parkinson’s patient, had died in custody a year ago shortly before his bail application was to be heard.
Read more

Supreme Court to hear Varavara Rao’s appeal against Bombay High Court’s refusal to extend his medical bail

30/06/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

Earlier today, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court directed its registry to list on July 11 the appeal filed by poet, activist and teacher P. Varavara Rao, accused of inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon case, against the Bombay High Court’s order refusing to extend his medical bail.
Senior advocate Anand Grover mentioned the appeal before a vacation bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala, seeking an urgent listing of the appeal, given that the due time for Rao to surrender is expiring on July 13.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao moves Supreme Court for bail

30/06/2022

Bar & Bench / by Abhimanyu Hazarika

The matter will be listed on July 11 after it was mentioned by Senior Advocate Anand Grover today before a vacation Bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala.
Telugu poet Varavara Rao, who is an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, has approached the Supreme Court seeking permanent bail on medical grounds.
Rao has challenged an April 13 judgment of the Bombay High Court which had rejected his plea for bail.
Read more

Further Incarceration Will Ring Death Knell For Him: Varavara Rao Moves Supreme Court Seeking Bail In Bhima Koregaon Case

30/06/2022

Live Law / by Srishti Ojha

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on 11th July a petition filed by Telugu poet and Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad accused P Varavara Rao challenging Bombay High Court’s order refusing to grant him permanent medical bail.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala issued the direction after the matter was mentioned by Senior Advocate Anand Grover.
Read more

82-Year-Old Varavara Rao Moves Supreme Court for Bail in Bhima Koregaon Case

30/06/2022

The Quint / by The Quint

The matter has been listed for 11 July, after Rao’s plea was mentioned by his counsel before a vacation bench.
82-year-old Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, approached the Supreme Court seeking permanent bail on medical grounds on Thursday, 30 June.
The matter has been listed for 11 July, after Rao’s plea was mentioned by his counsel, senior advocate Anand Grover before a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala, reported Bar and Bench.
Read more

Also read:
● NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused (The Leaflet / June 2022)

NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused

NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused

Poster campaign, 2019. Click to enlarge

Mumbai court rejects default bail to 5 accused

29/06/2022

Bar & Bench / by Satyendra Wankhade

The bail pleas had been pending since 2018 when accused, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut approached a Pune court challenging extension of time granted for filing of chargesheet.
The applications were filed in 2018 seeking default bail on the ground that the extension granted by the court to the investigating agency for filing chargesheet was in violation of law.
Read more

NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused

28/06/2022

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Earlier today, the default bail applications of human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist Surendra Gadling, activist and researcher Rona Wilson, women’s rights activist and professor Shoma Sen, activist Mahesh Raut, and activist, actor and publisher Sudhir Dhawale, co- accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, were rejected by a Special National Intelligence Agency (‘NIA’) court in Mumbai.
Read more

NIA court rejects default bail of five accused in Bhima Koregaon case

28/06/2022

The Hindu / by Special Correspondent

The grounds for filing the petition was that the 90-day extension that was granted to the prosecuting agency for filing the chargesheet was illegal
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday rejected the default bail plea of five accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case.
Special NIA judge Rajesh Katariya rejected the pleas of former professor of Nagpur university Shoma Sen, advocate Surendra Gadling, activist Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut. All of them were arrested on June 6, 2018 from different locations.
Read more

Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested & the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● Bombay High Court rejects default bail plea of Varavara Rao and seven other accused (The Leaflet / May 2022)

After New Bhima Koregaon Revelations, Bombay High Court Can and Must Act

After New Bhima Koregaon Revelations, Bombay High Court Can and Must Act

After New Bhima Koregaon Revelations, Bombay High Court Can and Must Act

18/06/2022

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

The assessment of these damning revelations can’t wait till trial, HC should set up a commission of inquiry.
In September 2018, when the Bhima Koregaon case was still in its infancy and the Maharashtra Police were trying to arrest the second set of activists (including Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha), Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court had said:
“Circumstances have been drawn to our notice to cast a cloud on whether the Maharashtra police has in the present case acted as fair and impartial investigating agency. Sufficient material has been placed before the Court bearing on the need to have an independent investigation.”
Read more

Bhima Koregaon Case: New Report Ties Pune Police With ‘Fabricated Evidence’

17/06/2022

The Quint / by The Quint

Independent investigations seem to suggest that the evidence in the case may just been very corrupt.
“We generally don’t tell people who targeted them, but I’m kind of tired of watching… These guys are not going after terrorists. They’re going after human rights defenders and journalists. And it’s not right,” an unnamed security analyst told American magazine WIRED.
Read more

Also read:
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired / June 16, 2022)