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Category: Prison conditions

Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net

Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net


File pic: Sagar Gorkhe

Accused Sagar Gorkhe goes on hunger strike against jail authorities

25/05/2022

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Accused alleges harassment by jail authorities and denial of basic facilities, Co-accused Gautam Navlakha seeks special court’s permission to use a mosquito net
Sagar Gorkhe, a cultural activist who has been locked up in the Taloja Central Jail since September 2020 as a virtual political prisoner in the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case, has now gone on hunger strike to protest his inhuman treatment in jail. Gorkhe has written to Maharashtra’s Home Minister, informing him about his decision that he was forced to take due to Taloja Central Jail allegedly harassing him and denying him his basic human rights.
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As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net

25/05/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

Gorkhe’s letter to Maharashtra Home Minister, Dilip Walse Patil, equates the conditions in Taloja jail to that of a “torture camp”.
SAGAR Gorkhe, an activist and performer with cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch, accused of inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case, has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil announcing his hunger strike in protest against the conditions at Taloja jail.
Meanwhile, septuagenarian activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha, who is a co-accused lodged in the same prison, approached the National Investigation Agency (‘NIA’) seeking a mosquito net.
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Elgar Parishad accused alleges harassment by Taloja jail officer

25/05/2022

Mid-day.com / by Faizan Khan

Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe has written to the state home minister Dilip Walse Patil, threatens to go on an indefinite hunger strike if action is not taken immediately.
Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe, an accused in Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon accused, has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, alleging harassment by the Taloja Jail superintendent. He has threatened to go on a hunger strike until death.
“It is with extreme distress that I inform you that since the very beginning the prison administration has treated the Bhima Koregaon case accused with utmost prejudice. As a result, the prison has become a torture camp for my co-accused and me. As you must be aware that it was the maltreatment by the prison administration that led to the custodial death of Father Stan Swami last year,” his letter reads.
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Jail officials delaying treatment to all Elgar Parishad case accused: Sagar Gorkhe writes to HM

24/05/2022

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

He has also urged the home minister to immediately stop the scanning of all incoming and outgoing mail by the jail officials.
Sagar Gorkhe, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, has written to state home minister Dilip Walse-Patil alleging that Taloja jail authorities are discriminating against several accused in the case and deliberately delaying medical treatment to them even though they are suffering from several serious ailments.
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Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020

Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
Watch their statement

Also read/watch:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Jail officials took away mosquito net: Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court

Jail officials took away mosquito net: Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested on August 28, 2018, from his residence in New Delhi, has been presently lodged in Taloja jail.
Human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who has been arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, has approached the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking a mosquito net, alleging that the net he was using was taken away by the prison authorities.
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Also read:
● PUDR: WHEN THE PROCESS BECOMES THE PUNISHMENT (PUDR / April 2022)

Irony of Sharad Pawar’s support for Bhima Koregaon accused

Irony of Sharad Pawar’s support for Bhima Koregaon accused

Irony of Sharad Pawar’s support for Bhima Koregaon accused

09/05/2022

Deccan Herald / by Vidya

That Pawar has done nothing is a testimony to the clout wielded in Maharashtra politics by ‘Bhide Guruji’
It took Delhi-based writer-activist Gautam Navlakha 75 days to get court permission to walk in the open in Taloja Jail and get the fresh air he’s deprived of in the high-security anda cell he’s been consigned to since October. Seventy-year-old Navlakha, one of 16 intellectuals arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been denied a chair despite developing back pain during his two-year-long incarceration. Last month, the Bombay High Court rejected his plea for house arrest and instead directed the Taloja Jail authorities to provide him with whatever medical care he needed.
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Why Sharad Pawar Is Against The Bhima Koregaon 16’s Arrests

06/05/2022

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

Despite Sharad Pawar’s assertion, the Maharashtra government has done nothing to ease the suffering of the Bhima Koregaon 16, who have been denied their basic rights to health and to communication with their families while in jail.
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‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’

‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’


Shoma Sen. Pic: Koel Sen @ fb

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

‘The only way to kill time in prison is to read and she can’t even do that properly any more.’
‘Her knees, too, are in terrible shape. I could see how she was trying to hide her pain every time she got up from the bench where she was seated.’
Koel Sen, her daughter, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar how this “travesty of justice” has taken a huge toll on the family.
Three years, 11 months to the day.
That’s how long Professor Shoma Sen, the former head of the English literature department at Nagpur University — she was suspended after her arrest — has been in prison for her alleged involvement in the *Bhima Koregaon case.
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Bombay HC Dismisses Gautam Navlakha’s Plea To Shift Him To House Arrest [read judgement]

Bombay HC Dismisses Gautam Navlakha’s Plea To Shift Him To House Arrest [read judgement]


Desolation of the anda cell / drawing by Arun Ferreira

Jail authorities should have considered books as an essential commodity during COVID: Bombay HC [read judgement]

27/04/2022

Bar & Bench / by Satyendra Wankhade

“During such terrible times, nothing more could have provided solace to a jail inmate than a book of his choice,” a Bench of Justices SB Shukre and GA Sanap said.
Jail authorities should have considered books as an essential commodity during COVID-19 pandemic, the Bombay High Court observed while dismissing a plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha requesting to be transferred to house arrest from jail [Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Agency & Anr.]
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Read judgement

Bombay High Court dismisses Gautam Navlakha’s plea seeking transfer from jail to house arrest

26/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Omkar Gokhale

A division bench of Justice Sunil B Shukre and Justice Govinda A Sanap also directed the Superintendent of Taloja central prison to ensure medical facilities are provided to the petitioner.
The Bombay High Court Tuesday dismissed a plea by Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, seeking transfer from the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai to judicial custody in the form of house arrest, alleging denial of basic medical care and other necessities.
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Bombay high court dismisses activist Gautam Navlakha’s plea of being shifted from jail to ‘house arrest’

26/04/2022

The Times of India / by Swati Deshpande

The Bombay high court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed filed by activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, seeking that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in the Taloja Jail as it lacked basic facilities.
He had cited poor health and inadequate medical facilities and lack of basic necessities in prison, as grounds forseeking the shift.
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Bombay High Court Dismisses Gautam Navlakha’s Plea To Shift Him To House Arrest

26/04/2022

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by senior journalist Gautam Navlakha seeking to shifted out of Taloja Prison and be placed under house arrest, instead, in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Caste violence case.
A division bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and GA Sanap said that whatever grievances Navlakha had in prison could be placed before the trial court for appropriate action.
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Bombay High Court dismisses Gautam Navlakha plea to be moved from prison to house arrest

26/04/2022

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Navlakha was granted liberty to bring to the attention of the Special NIA Judge all difficulties faced by him, which the judge was directed to redress as per law.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha to be transferred from Taloja Prison and placed under house arrest instead.
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Varavara Rao pleas dismissed, HC asks prison to adopt measures to improve medical facilities [read order]

Varavara Rao pleas dismissed, HC asks prison to adopt measures to improve medical facilities [read order]

Bombay HC gives reasons for denying permanent bail to Varavara Rao, directs review of medical facilities in all prisons in Maharashtra [read order]

23/04/2022

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

On Friday, the Bombay High Court’s division bench of justices Sunil B. Shukre and G.A. Sanap passed the reasoned order to extend the temporary bail, of poet-activist and Bhima Koregaon case accused P. Varavara Rao, by three months.  The Court had earlier passed the initial order on April 13 to this effect.
The Court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by Rao, which prayed for modification of the High Court’s previous order releasing him on temporary medical bail on the condition that he wouldn’t leave the jurisdiction of Mumbai. Rao had prayed to the court to modify his temporary release into a permanent medical bail and to allow him to move to Hyderabad, where his family resides, as the cost of living in Mumbai was very high for him.
Read more
Read order

Take Corrective Measures So Accused Can’t Cite Poor Medical Facilities To Seek Bail: Bombay HC To Jail Authorities On Dismissing Varavara Rao’s Plea

23/04/2022

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court has issued certain directions for improving prison conditions and medical facilities therein, so that complaints of Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao as well as those made by other prison inmates are addressed, and there is no scope for them to seek bail on those grounds in the future.
“If the strict view of the matter is not taken and appropriate directions are not issued to rectify the deficiencies, all the under-trial prisoners would make a grievance of the same and apply for bail,” their order refusing permanent bail on medical grounds to Rao.
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Varavara Rao pleas dismissed, HC asks prison to adopt measures to improve medical facilities

23/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Senior advocate Anand Grover, representing Rao, who was arrested in August 2018, had contended that Varavara Rao’s condition was worsening due to Parkinson’s and his health is incompatible with the environment of Taloja central jail.
The Bombay High Court, while dismissing pleas filed by Elgaar Parishad case accused Varavara Rao, who had sought permanent medical bail and permission to shift to Hyderabad citing ill health and high expenses in Mumbai, has directed that corrective measures be adopted to improve conditions and medical facilities at state prisons.
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‘Seriousness & Severity Of Crime Would Remain Till Such Time The Accused Is Pronounced Not Guilty’: Bombay HC While Rejecting Varavara Rao’s Bail Plea

23/04/2022

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Refusing to grant permanent bail on medical grounds to Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad accused poet Varavara Rao the Bombay High Court said that prima facie observations regarding “seriousness and severity” of the crime he is accused of would remain till he is pronounced “not guilty.”
Therefore, based on Rao’s sound clinical summary dated December 15, 2021, and the allegations against him of being the “main conspirator,” he was not entitled to medial bail, the court held.
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Reflecting on the most poignant moments of last two years during Anand’s incarceration

Reflecting on the most poignant moments of last two years during Anand’s incarceration

The Leaflet / by Rama Teltumbde Ambedkar

This is part of a special issue on Ambedkar Jayanti 2022.

Anand and I concealed our pain before each other, at least during those ten minutes, writes Rama Teltumbde Ambedkar on the weekly mulaqat with her husband.
Anand and I were married on November 19, 1983. Ours was a typical arranged marriage – arranged through a common, well-meaning friend.
I played the role of a homemaker for 37 years, raising my two daughters, looking after their needs and managing our home. It was my way of supporting Anand, who could then freely and entirely focus on his professional life and social causes that he was devoted to. 
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Recounting the ordeal of famed undertrials inside Taloja prison

Recounting the ordeal of famed undertrials inside Taloja prison

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde are among the 16 people arrested for their alleged involvement in the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The road outside the jail is paved with little chits, “like snowflakes”.
Sahba Husain, the Delhi-based author, is recalling the indelible markers chiselled into her conscience while she waited last month outside Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai to meet her partner Gautam Navlakha face to face after two years.
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PUDR: When The Process becomes The Punishment

PUDR: When The Process becomes The Punishment

Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) / by PUDR

Tomorrow, 14th April 2022 marks the completion of two years of PUDR activist Gautam Navlakha’s surrender before the NIA. One of sixteen accused in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam has been imprisoned in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai since 25 May 2020.  For more than six months now, since 12 October 2021, the nearly 70 years old Gautam, an undertrial suffering from multiple health problems has been in solitary confinement in one of 33 cells in the ‘anda’ circle, the High Security Area of Taloja Jail, a space meant to segregate those guilty of heinous crimes.
Read more

Also read:
● How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates (The Indian Express │ Oct 2021)
● System of solitary confinement, ‘Anda Cell’, inside the jail be stopped (Groundxero │ Oct 2021)