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‘Urban Naxals’, Sharad Pawar’s U-Turn and What it Means for Efforts to Ensure Justice for Activists

‘Urban Naxals’, Sharad Pawar’s U-Turn and What it Means for Efforts to Ensure Justice for Activists

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

When the MVA government came to power in Maharashtra, it vehemently criticised the Fadnavis government’s handling of the Elgar Parishad case. Two years later, Sharad Pawar is sounding a lot more like Fadnavis.
In 2018, the Maharashtra police, under the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party government, arrested several rights activists, lawyers and academics for their alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case.
This series of arrests, made from different parts of the country, made way for the dramatic discourse on the presence of “urban Naxals” in the country. 
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Bombay High Court Asks Varavara Rao To File Fresh Petition; Extends Time To Surrender Till Dec 2

Bombay High Court Asks Varavara Rao To File Fresh Petition; Extends Time To Surrender Till Dec 2

Bombay HC Asks Varavara Rao To File Fresh Petition for Extension Of Medical Bail; Extends Time To Surrender Till Dec

19/11/2021

Live Law / by Livelaw News Network

The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad accused P Varavara Rao to file a fresh petition to extend temporary medical bail granted to him on February 22, 2021 for six months.
The court observed that it could not modify bail conditions imposed by the previous bench, therefore, a new substantive petition would be required. The bench extended Rao’s time to surrender till December 2 in the interim.
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Varavara Rao’s Bail Extended till December 2

19/11/2021

Silverscreen / by Namrata Ganguly

The Bombay High Court has extended the interim bail of Varavara Rao, activist and co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, till December 2. This is an extension to his six-month interim bail that was granted in February…
The court will next hear the case on November 29.
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Poet Varavara Rao’s interim medical bail extended till December 2

18/11/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Owing to Rao’s ill health, his counsel had demanded a bail extension of four months.
Poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, need not surrender to the Taloja Jail authorities until December 2, the Bombay High Court said on Thursday, according to PTI.
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IPS officer appears before Koregaon Bhima panel, seeks time to file affidavit

IPS officer appears before Koregaon Bhima panel, seeks time to file affidavit

IPS officer appears before Koregaon Bhima panel, seeks time to file affidavit

19/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

The two-member commission headed by retired Justice J N Patel is probing the causes of the Koregaon Bhima violence of January 1, 2018, in which one person died and several were injured.
Former Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla on Thursday appeared before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry in Mumbai and sought time to file her affidavit, claiming that she is yet to receive certain documents from Pune City Police.
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Elgaar Parishad organiser questioned on presence at convicted Maoist’s death anniversary

17/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

A two-member commission, headed by retired Justice J N Patel, is probing into the causes of the Koregaon Bhima violence of January 1, 2018.
As Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry restarted its hearings in Mumbai, witness Harshali Potdar, an organiser of the Elgaar Parishad, was questioned about her participation in a programme held in Mumbai to mark the death anniversary of convicted Maoist leader Sridhar Srinivasan.
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Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: Outcome of a ‘Larger Conspiracy’? (Rediff.com / Oct 2021)
● Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots (Live Law / Sep 2021)

UAPA used to crush dissent: Former civil servants challenge provisions of law

UAPA used to crush dissent: Former civil servants challenge provisions of law

‘UAPA used to crush dissent’: Former civil servants challenge provisions of law in Supreme Court

18/11/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The petitioners submitted that the rate of prosecution in UAPA cases was extremely low.
A group of former civil servants on Wednesday challenged the provisions of anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Supreme Court, Live Law reported.
The Act gives absolute power to the Centre, which can deem an activity as unlawful by way of an Official Gazette and declare it so.
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‘Act Used To Quell Dissent’ : Former Civil Servants Challenge Validity Of UAPA; Supreme Court Issues Notice

17/11/2021

Live Law / by Sneha Rao

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice on a Writ Petition filed by petitioners- who have all been former IAS/IPS/IFS officials- challenging the vires and validity of the various provisions of the draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967
On Wednesday, a Bench comprising the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Surya Kant issued notice to the Union Government on the petition and directed that it be tagged along with a similar petition.
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Also watch: Repeal UAPA – Persecution by Prosecution (PUCL, Jan 2021)

Three Day consultation on 20th, 21st and 22nd January, 2021
► Repeal UAPA – Day One (video: en + … | 2h 17min)
► Repeal UAPA – Day Two (video: en +… | 2h 22min)
► Repeal UAPA – Day Three (video: en + … | 2h 51min)

Court Allows Anand Teltumbde 5 Mins Telephone Call With Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Court Allows Anand Teltumbde 5 Mins Telephone Call With Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Special NIA Court has allowed Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde a telephone call to his mother for five minutes on loud speaker after his brother and alleged Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde’s encounter killing by security personnel in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
In his plea to the Special NIA court, Teltumbde said his ninety-year-old mother is in a state of shock and bereavement after Milind’s demise and therefore he may be permitted a telephone call.
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Also read:
● Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued (The Indian Express / Nov 2021)

Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail

Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail

Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail

17/11/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap, two of the youngest accused in the case from 2018 have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail.
Two of the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case from 2018, Mahesh Raut (34) and Jyoti Jagtap (32), have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail. This is Jagtap’s first bail application.
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Special NIA court begins hearing bail applications of the youngest accused

17/11/2021

India Today / by Vidya

A Special NIA court began hearing bail applications of two of the youngest accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case on Wednesday.
One of the accused in the case, Mahesh Raut has filed a bail plea which was argued by advocate Vijay Hiremath…
Apart from these two accused, Hany Babu, Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe’s bail pleas will also come up for hearing.
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Unable to pay rent, Varavara Rao to shift to an ashram-like facility behind Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat

Unable to pay rent, Varavara Rao to shift to an ashram-like facility behind Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat

India Today / by Vidya

Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case, told the special NIA court in Mumbai on Tuesday that he was shifting from a high society flat in Mumbai to an ashram-like facility in Bandra as he was unable to afford rent.
Advocate Niraj Yadav, appearing for Rao, said his client would shift to an ashram-like facility which is right behind actor Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow, Mannat.
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Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

‘Emotional Torture’: Why Don’t Indian Jails Give Inmates a Right to Phone Calls?

16/11/2021

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

With pandemic restrictions easing, many states are once more taking away the option to call families and lawyers.
Dear Reader,
The Indian criminal justice system is plagued by apathy, indifference and indeed, injustice. This story is The Quint’s effort to ensure that the many everyday tragedies of this system do not remain mere statistics. It’s the story of Archana, who will have to travel for eight hours and wait in line for as long, to meet her imprisoned brother Vinod for 5-7 minutes. Of Sahba, whose partner Gautam is an undertrial in a jail in a different part of the country, who will no longer be allowed to speak to him on the phone.
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Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

15/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The prison department has decided to discontinue phone calls and video calls from prisoners after physical mulaqats (meetings) were resumed last month.
It has been a month since Sahba Husain spoke to her partner, Gautam Navlakha, lodged at Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai as an undertrial in the Elgaar Parishad case. Husain is one of the many family members affected by the decision by the Maharashtra prison department to discontinue phone calls and video calls from prisoners after physical mulaqats (meetings) were resumed last month.
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Milind Teltumbde’s alleged Pune links / Elgar Parishad deny links with Maoists

Milind Teltumbde’s alleged Pune links / Elgar Parishad deny links with Maoists

Slain Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde’s Pune links include ‘organising Naxal camp’

16/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Records with the Maharashtra Police also show that Milind Teltumbde was involved in recruiting city youths for the Maoist movement.
From organising a 15-day residential ‘Naxal camp’ in Pune, recruiting city youths for the Maoist movement and being named an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, top CPI-Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Gadchiroli, was known to be active in Pune and surrounding areas, as per Maharashtra Police records.
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Who was Milind Teltumbde, Maoist leader killed in Gadchiroli encounter

14/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Vivek Deshpande

“Teltumbde was the main financier of the Bhima-Koregaon programme organised in Pune three years ago,” said a former senior police officer.
Top Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde, who had a reward of Rs 50 lakh on his head, was among the 26 Naxals killed in a fierce encounter with the police in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district on Saturday.
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‘They want fascist forces to reign’: Retired judges who organised Pune’s Elgaar Parishad speak out

01/09/2018

Scroll.in / by Aarefa Johari

Justices BG Kolse-Patil and PB Sawant say they were the main organisers and sole funders of the event held a day before violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon.
According to the Pune police, the event was organised by members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), with the aim of “spreading rebellious thoughts”, instigating violence at Bhima Koregaon and establishing a nationwide “anti-fascist front” to “wage war against the government”.
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Fr Swamy silenced over India’s coal and Adivasi

Fr Swamy silenced over India’s coal and Adivasi

AsiaNews / by Giorgio Bernardelli

The Jesuit clergyman, who died in Mumbai after nine months in detention, wrote a scathing article against the Indian government’s policy of auctioning off 41 coal mines to private interests. India’s coal is front-page news in the wake of COP26 in Glasgow.
Fr Stan Swamy was a prophetic voice when he spoke about coal mines in India, an issue that is front-page news around the world.
That voice was first silenced with prison, then extinguished at the age of 83 when he died last July from the consequences of his detention.
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