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IPS officer Rashmi Shukla to appear before Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel

28/12/2021 Asha

IPS officer Rashmi Shukla to appear before Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel

28/12/2021

The Times of India / by Vishwas Kothari

Senior IPS officer and then Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla is scheduled for deposition before the Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel during the hearing to be held in the city from January 18 to 22 next year.
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Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference (Rediff.com / Dec 2021)

Koregaon Bhima: Commission of Inquiry gets another extension of 6 months

24/12/2021 Asha

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The two-member commission, headed by retired high court justice J N Patel with former chief secretary Sumit Malik as the other member, was constituted by the state government on February 9, 2018, to inquire into the “exact sequence” of events that led to violence on the 200th anniversary of Battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1 that year.
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Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference (Rediff.com / Dec 2021)
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan / Dec 2020)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati / March 2018)

SC Judgment Review 2021 / Bail Under UAPA: Court in Review

24/12/2021 Asha

SC Judgment Review 2021: Terror

24/12/2021

Supreme Court Observer / by Gauri Kashyap

We discuss two judgments where the Court engaged with bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
In 2021, the Supreme Court issued 865 judgments. In a series of posts, we conduct a thematic review of the most important judgments of the year. Here, we discuss two judgments where the Court engaged with bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
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Bail Under UAPA: Court in Review

13/12/2021

Supreme Court Observer / by Ayushi Saraogi

Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 lays down stringent provisions for the grant of bail.
In the aftermath of the Bombay terror attacks, the Union government enacted the UAPA Amendment Act, 2008. The Amendment introduced Section 43D (5), which required a Court to deny bail if there were reasonable grounds to believe that the case against the accused was prima facie true. The provision made bail difficult to secure, since it required the Court to assess guilt only by looking at the charge sheet prepared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The accused cannot provide any evidence outside the chargesheet in their defense.
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Also read:
● 4,690 UAPA arrests between 2018-21; only 3.1% convictions (The Federal / Dec 2021)
● UAPA: Lawyers Challenge Sections Defining ‘Unlawful Activities’ as Vague (Gauri Lankesh News / Nov 2021)
● Bhima Koregaon Case: Trying Without a Trial Is the Intent of Draconian UAPA Law (The Wire / July 2021)

Five Indian Women Activists Who Dared To Disagree In 2021 / Human Rights Heroes of 2021

24/12/2021 Asha

Five Indian Women Activists Who Dared To Disagree In 2021

23/12/2021

SheThePeople / by Tanvi Akhauri

Indian women activists set trailblazing paths through dominant narratives this year, daring to be outspoken despite consequences they knew would follow suit. Their moments of dissent were seen as acts of courage by some and acts of radicalism by others, but it became wholly impossible to deny at the same time that these activists – no matter their views – are courageous enough to raise questions and make themselves heard in a society that traditionally sidelines women’s voices.
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Never-the-less, they persisted: Human Rights Heroes of 2021

22/12/2021

Sabrangindia / by Karuna John

Meet our fellow Indians who have continued to defend our rights and freedoms despite being hounded with different forms of institutional violence ranging from targeted attacks and lawsuits to jail terms.
Scores of Human Rights Defenders, students and citizen activists, were subjected to targeted attacks, online vilification, lawsuits and even jail, but stayed true to their path. Today we hail those who grew stronger despite the blows. There are hundreds who are unnamed, here are a few who made headlines worldwide in 2021.
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Bombay HC Turns Down Plea By 8 Accused For Factual Corrections In Order Denying Bail

23/12/2021 Asha

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Bombay High Court Turns Down Plea By 8 Bhima Koregaon Accused For Factual Corrections In Order Denying Bail

23/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Court cited the bar under Section 362 CrPC in reviewing the order.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused a request by eight accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case for substantial factual corrections to the HC’s order denying them bail.
Through a precipice (application) for “speaking to minutes”, the accused claimed that just like Sudha Bharadwaj, who was granted bail, they had also filed their default bail pleas in the stipulated time.
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Bombay HC refuses to entertain plea by 8 accused claiming „factual errors“ in default bail order

23/12/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The 8 accused had moved the High Court seeking a minor rectification in the order passed by the Division Bench refusing default bail to them.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to intervene in a plea by eight accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case seeking a rectification of the ‘factual errors’ in the order refusing default bail to them.
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HC disposes plea of eight accused seeking rectification in order denying them bail

23/12/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The activists and academicians had said that the Bombay High Court order was based on a ‘factual error’.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to intervene in a plea filed by eight accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case, seeking rectification in an order that refused them bail, Bar and Bench reported.
The Bhima Koregaon case pertains to caste violence in a village near Pune in January 2018. Eight activists and academicians are among the 16 people arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.
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Eight Accused Approach HC, Say Denial of Default Bail Based on ‘Factual Error’

22/12/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Sudhir Dawale, Varavara Rao, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira have approached the high court claiming its order denying them default bail was based on a “factual error”.
Eight activists and academics currently in jail in the Elgar Parishad case, who were denied default bail by the Bombay high court earlier this month, have approached the high court on Tuesday, seeking a correction in the relevant order. They said that they had in fact exercised their right to default bail within the stipulated period …
The high court will hear the matter further on December 23.
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Had Sought Default Bail Like Sudha Bharadwaj’: 8 Bhima-Koregaon Accused Approach Bombay HC Claiming ‘Factual Error’ In Judgment

21/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Eight accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case denied default bail have re-approached the Bombay High Court claiming to have exercised their right to default bail well within the stipulated period.
It may be recalled that the High Court had granted default bail to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the case, on the ground that the Pune Sessions Court was not competent to extend the time for probe as it was not notified as a Special Court under the NIA Act. However, the Court denied the same benefit to other accused by saying that they had not filed applications for default bail when that right accrued to them.
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Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists / 4,690 UAPA arrests; 3.1% convictions

22/12/2021 Asha

Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists

22/12/2021

Yahoo News / by Sarita Santoshini

Pendyala Pavana is no stranger to the world of social activism and government repression. Ever since she was a child she has seen her father, a revolutionary poet and activist, subjected to repeated criminal charges, accused of everything under the sun, including murder.
Twenty-four times he has been charged; 24 times he has been found not guilty. Still, Ms. Pavana is shocked by the way her father, Varavara Rao, is being treated in his latest ordeal. “It’s quite against natural justice, and his rights are completely denied,” she says.
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4,690 UAPA arrests between 2018-21; only 3.1% convictions

22/12/2021

The Federal / by The Federal

Authorities arrested 4,690 people across India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between 2018 and 2021, but only 149 detainees have so far been convicted, according to figures provided by the government.
That means only 3.1 per cent of the arrests under the draconian law in the past three years have ended in convictions.
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Poet-activist Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till Jan 7, Bombay HC grants time to file affidavit

21/12/2021 Asha

Poet-activist Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till Jan 7, Bombay HC grants time to file affidavit

21/12/2021

The Leaflet / by the Leaflet

Monday, December 20, the Bombay High Court allowed time to continue to examine Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case accused Dr. P.V. Varavara Rao’s request seeking extension of his medical bail. Rao, who was granted bail for six months on February 22, 2021, got an extension till January 7, 2022 and his counsel was allowed to file the affidavit by December 28.
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Poet Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till January 7

20/12/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Bombay High Court allowed him to file an affidavit against a private hospital report suggesting that his health condition was ‘cognitively normal’.
The Bombay High Court on Monday extended the medical bail of poet Varavara Rao till January 7 in the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported. At a previous hearing, the High Court had extended his bail till Monday.
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Bombay HC Extends Varavara Rao’s Time To Surrender Till Jan 7, Permits Him To Respond To Medical Reports

20/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Monday extended Telugu poet Varavara Rao’s time to surrender before prison authorities till January 7, while posting his application for extension of medical bail for further consideration on January 4.
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal also permitted Rao’s counsels to file an affidavit and respond to a private hospital’s reports concluding that his condition was normal as “he is able to perform activities of daily living.”
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Bombay HC allows Varavara Rao to file affidavit after hospital declares his parameters’ normal

20/12/2021

Times of India / by Swati Deshpande

The Bombay high court on Monday allowed Elgar Parishad accused P Varavara Rao, 82, to file an additional affidavit response to a report submitted by Nanavati hospital for its analysis in his plea for extension of his medical bail. The private charitable hospital had last week submitted a report to say that Rao’s vital parameters were normal.
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Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad / Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

20/12/2021 Asha

Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad

20/12/2021

The Hindu / by Nadeem Inamdar

The Elgar Parishad organisers are undecided about holding another edition of the conclave, for them getting bail for artistes is top priority.
The Elgar Parishad organisers are undecided about holding another edition of the conclave, for them getting bail for artistes is top priority. The second edition of the Elgar Parishad was held at GaneshKala Krida manch on Jan 1, last year wherein academics, activists and writers from dalit, muslim and other social organisations addressed the thinly attended event.
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Anniversary of Bhima Koregaon; Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

20/12/2021

Maktoobmedia / by Maktoob Staff

Azad Samaj Party has announced that its chief and Bhim Army supremo Chandrashekhar Azad will be visiting the ‘Jaystambh’ in Pune on January 1 to mark the anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
“This is the 200th year of the erection of Jaystambh. On this occasion, our party chief Chandrashekhar Azad and state president Rahul Pradhan would be visiting the Jaystambh on January 1,” Abhijit Gaikwad, Pune unit president of Azad Samaj Party said.
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“Allegations Followed Him To His Grave”: Plea In Bombay HC Seeks To Clear Father Stan Swamy’s Name

18/12/2021 Asha

Judicial enquiry sought to clear Stan Swamy name

18/12/2021

The Times of India / by TOI

Five months after the death of Jesuit priest and Elgar Parishad case accused Father Stan Swamy in hospital while in in judicial custody, Fr Frazer Mascarenhas, as his ‘next of kin’ has petitioned the Bombay high court for a judicial enquiry into the death in custody and to remove the ‘odium of guilty’ attached to the deceased tribal rights activist and the shadow it “casts” on the Jesuits in India.
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“Allegations Followed Him To His Grave”: Plea In Bombay High Court Seeks To Clear Father Stan Swamy’s Name

17/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, has approached the Bombay High Court to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case. He has also sought for a court-monitored judicial inquiry into his custodial death.
Fr Stan founded Bagaicha, an organisation dedicated to empowering the Adivasi and Moolvasi communities in Jharkhand. He passed away on July 5, nine months after his arrest.
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Arsenal Consultancy has no locus standi to give opinion in Shoma Sen’s plea, says NIA

17/12/2021 Rani

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

The digital forensic analyst said false evidence was planted against the retired professor to implicate her in the case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that Arsenal Consultancy, a digital forensic analyst that said false evidence was planted against retired Prof. Shoma Sen who is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, has “no locus standi to give opinion without court’s permission”.
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Also read:
● Rona Wilson’s iPhone Infected With Pegasus Spyware, Says New Forensic Report (The Wire / Dec 2021)