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Three years after Bhima Koregaon: How criminal law was violated

Three years after Bhima Koregaon: How criminal law was violated

The Leaflet / by Nihalsing B Rathod

Recalling his bruising experiences with an unjust criminal justice system as part of the legal team of the activists arrested in the questionable Bhima Koregaon violence case three years ago, Nihalsing B Rathod, in this second of a three-part series, recollects how basic tenets of criminal law were violated by the Pune Police in arresting Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Arun Fereira, and Vernon Gonsalves at various points, and extending their detention, as well as that of Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale and Mahesh Raut. All this while, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde exhausted all legal options to evade arrest, as the judiciary looked on, condoning the deprivation of the activists’ liberty and denying their bail applications, sometimes making gestures that filled the activists’ legal team with hope but ultimately continuing the farce that is the Bhima-Koregaon travesty.
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Also read part one: Bhima Koregaon: Marking three years since the first arrest (June 7, 2021)

Bhima Koregaon: Marking three years since the first arrest

Bhima Koregaon: Marking three years since the first arrest


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The Leaflet / by Nihalsing B Rathod

Recalling the first set of arrests made in the questionable Bhima Koregaon violence case almost exactly three years ago, Nihalsing B Rathod, in this first of a three-part series, recollects the personal horrors of trying to track Surendra Gadling in the immediate aftermath of his arrest, details the events leading to the arrest of five more activists in August 2018, and explains how basic tenets of criminal law were violated by the Pune Police in making these arrests.

The morning of June 6, 2018, gave me a horrific memory that perhaps will never fade. Early in the morning, I received a phone call that police were at the house of Advocate Surendra Gadling again. The memory of the raid of April 17, 2018, was still fresh.
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HC allows Hany Babu to continue treatment for post-Covid complications at hospital / Solidarity

HC allows Hany Babu to continue treatment for post-Covid complications at hospital / Solidarity

Bombay HC allows Hany Babu to continue treatment for post-Covid complications at Breach Candy

03/06/2021

The Leaflet / by Hamza Lakdawala

Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed Hany Babu to continue treatment at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. The court was hearing a plea filed by Hany Babu’s wife, Jenny Roweena, which sought urgent medical Bail for Babu.
The matter was heard by a bench of Justice S. S. Shinde and Justice Abhay Ahuja.
… The court posted the matter on June 15, 2021, for further hearing.
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Bombay High Court directs Breach Candy hospital to not discharge Bhima Koregaon violence accused till June 3

01/06/2021

Law Beat / by Shruti Kakkar

The Bombay High Court today has extended the order as per which directions were issued to not discharge Hany Babu who is being treated for black fungus & CoVID at his own costs under the protection of police officials without seeking Court’s permission till June 3.
“We’ve already passed an order of not discharging Hany Babu till we permit & let that order extend till June 3,” a bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice Abhay Ahuja said.
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Video: Solidarity for Hany Babu – A Beloved Techer, hounded by the state

20/05/2021

By Karwan e Mohabbat


en | 3:34min | 2021
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Bombay HC asks hospital not to discharge Bhima Koregaon accused Hany Babu till 1 June

27/05/2021

The Print / by pti

The Bombay High Court Thursday sought a medical report on the DU professor’s condition and treatment given to him. Babu tested positive for Covid earlier this month.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Breach Candy Hospital here not to discharge Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, till June 1 and sought a medical report on his condition and treatment given to him.
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Mahesh Raut, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor test Covid positive at Taloja jail

Mahesh Raut, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor test Covid positive at Taloja jail

Bhima Koregaon case: 3 accused test Covid positive at Taloja jail

03/06/2021

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Mahesh Raut, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor have tested positive after an RT-PCR drive was conducted at Taloja.
After Father Stan Swamy tested positive for Covid-19 at Holy Family Hospital, an RT-PCR test drive was conducted at Taloja jail for all inmates. The Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused Mahesh Raut, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor have tested positive.
According to Republican Panthers Jatiya Antachi Chalwal activist Harshali Potdar, who was also questioned by the NIA in the Bhima Koregaon matter, the three accused persons have been quarantined in a very congested room in the Central jail. Despite testing positive, neither medical treatment of any kind has started, nor they have been given a medical diet to follow.
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Co-inmates of Stan Swamy who attended to him test negative

03/06/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Stan Swamy, the 84-year old Jesuit priest arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case, requires assistance to complete his daily chores in jail.
Days after Father Stan Swamy tested positive for Covid-19, two of his co-inmates who were attending to him, tested negative at Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.
One of his co-accused, Arun Ferreira, and another inmate usually help him in jail.
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In Maharashtra, Prison Quarantine Centres Are More Harrowing than Main Jail Barracks

In Maharashtra, Prison Quarantine Centres Are More Harrowing than Main Jail Barracks

The Wire / by Sukanya Shanta

While some have a crushing lack of space, others have no clean water or trained staff to take care of ill prisoners.
In the last two months, Shweta Salve*, a 42-year-old undertrial prisoner, fell ill three times.
Twice, because of a stomach infection – a severe yet common illness that most prisoners learn to live with – and then fever, which then led to a COVID-19 positive report. Each time she complained of ill health, her lawyer had to move court to ensure she could access medical treatment outside the Byculla women prisons.
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Two Days After HC Orders Hospitalisation, Stan Swamy Tests Positive for COVID-19

Two Days After HC Orders Hospitalisation, Stan Swamy Tests Positive for COVID-19

Two Days After HC Orders Hospitalisation, Stan Swamy Tests Positive for COVID-19

30/05/2021

The Wire / by Sukanya Shanta

Swamy, who is suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease, has been in jail since October last year.
Mumbai: Eighty-four-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy has tested positive for COVID-19.
Swamy, one of the 16 persons to be arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, had been suffering from fever, severe cough, headache and upset stomach for the past few weeks. He was, however, finally hospitalised only two days ago following the Bombay high court direction to move him to a hospital for 15 days.
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Activist Stan Swamy tests positive for coronavirus after being moved to private hospital

30/05/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

On Friday, the Bombay High Court had ordered the 84-year-old to be moved to a hospital for 15 days.
Tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy tested positive for the coronavirus infection after he was moved to a hospital, his friend and colleague Father Joseph Xavier said on Sunday.
Swamy, who is in custody in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, is currently at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai. On Friday, the Bombay High Court had ordered Swamy to be moved to a hospital for 15 days.
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Stan Swamy put on oxygen support

30/05/2021

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The octogenarian was admitted to the hospital around 9.50pm on Friday.
Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy is on oxygen support at Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai.
Director of the Bangalore-based Indian Social Institute, Father Joe Xavier, who is coordinating with the Jesuits on Father Swamy, told The Telegraph that the octogenarian was admitted to the hospital around 9.50pm on Friday.
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Judiciary comes to the aid of Bhima Koregaon accused

Judiciary comes to the aid of Bhima Koregaon accused

Deccan Herald / by Jyoti Punwani

Amid the spread of Covid in jails, it took a HC order to direct jail authorities to give all prisoners their hospital reports.
Imagine being taken to hospital and not being given your medical report by those who took you there. We are talking about adults, all of whom are currently in the custody of the State. Their lives are thus the responsibility of the State.
Without their medical reports, how can prisoners know whether they are being given the treatment recommended by the hospital? The 16 intellectuals accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, lodged in two Mumbai jails, have been forced to live in this state of helpless ignorance ever since the pandemic began.
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Also read:< a href="https://www.rediff.com/news/column/jyoti-punwani-should-the-bhima-koregaon-16-be-left-to-die/20210517.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Should the Bhima Koregaon 16 be left to die? (Rediff.com, May 17)

Bombay HC Orders Transfer Of Stan Swamy To Hospital [read order] / Poem by Stan

Bombay HC Orders Transfer Of Stan Swamy To Hospital [read order] / Poem by Stan

He Needs Treatment: Bombay High Court Orders Transfer Of Stan Swamy To Private Hospital From Prison [read order]

28/05/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to transfer ailing Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old tribal rights activist – to the Holy Family Hospital from Taloja Central Jail for treatment. He is accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad case.
In an urgent hearing, a bench of justices SS Shinde and NR Borkar allowed Swamy hospitalisation and an attendant after Senior Advocate Mihir Desai submitted the Jesuit priest’s condition was not improving.
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Bombay HC sends Ft Stan Swamy to Holy Family hospital for medical treatment; brushes aside NIA’s objection

28/05/2021

The Leaflet / by Gahena Gambani

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to transfer Father Stan Swamy, 84, accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, to Holy Family Hospital from Taloja Central Jail.
A vacation bench comprising Justices SS Shinde and NR Borkar heard the matter on an urgent basis and ordered the transfer.
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By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha

The pandemic has put the spotlight on inhumane conditions in Indian prisons

The pandemic has put the spotlight on inhumane conditions in Indian prisons


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Indian Express / by Teesta Setalvad

They are overcrowded, unhygienic and have little oversight. There’s a need to expand use of house arrest as punitive measure.
The prison, it is famously said, holds a mirror to society. The conditions within prisons, to stretch this analogy, reflect the quality of any democracy. By that yardstick, India needs soul-searching. Not only has our collapsing criminal justice system ensured a mockery of reasonably speedy trials but tardy and often skewed (if not biased) investigations and prosecutions have ensured that undertrials languish in jails for decades. Courts rarely step in to ensure a thorough investigation and robust prosecutions, or a time-bound conclusion to trials.
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► Also read/ watch: Bhima Koregaon, COVID-19 And Custodial Apathy In Jails / Video + Press Release (May 15)
► Also read: Crowded Jails & COVID: 16 Bhima Koregaon Accused’s Kin Share Fears (The Quint, May 18)

Chronology of harassment against human rights defender Sudha Bharadwaj

Chronology of harassment against human rights defender Sudha Bharadwaj

CIVICUS / by CIVICUS

Today marks exactly 1000 days since human rights lawyer & activist Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested & detained on fabricated charges.
Sudha Bharadwaj, aged 59, is a human rights lawyer and activist who has spent her life defending Indigenous people in India and protecting workers’ rights. She has been in pre-trial detention since August 2018, when she was arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on trumped up accusations of having links with Maoist terrorist organisations, based on evidence believed to be fabricated.
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Also read: The Sudha Bharadwaj the Govt Doesn’t Want You To Know (article14, Jan 2021)