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Taloja jail official who wanted Elgaar accused shifted gets transferred

Taloja jail official who wanted Elgaar accused shifted gets transferred

Taloja jail superintendent transferred

05/07/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Had sought accused in Bhima Koregaon case to be shifted to other prison.
Taloja jail superintendent Kaustubh Kurlekar, who recently sought the transfer of the male accused in the Bhima Koregaon case to another prison, has been moved to another posting attached to the office of the Inspector General (prisons) as a part of an administrative shuffle, a senior prison department official said.
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Elgar Parishad Accused Could Soon Be Separated, Moved to Different Prisons Across Maharashtra

29/06/2021

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The Taloja Central jail authorities have moved NIA court claiming that the lawyers and family members of those arrested have been giving ‘fake information’ to the media.
The activists and academics arrested in the Elgar Parishad case now have a new challenge before them – the possibility of being separated and thrown into different prisons across the state.
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Also read: Amid pandemic, India’s political prisoners struggle with failing health in unequipped jails (The Caravan, June 22)

Stan Swamy to stay in Bandra private hospital till July 6

Stan Swamy to stay in Bandra private hospital till July 6

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

On June 17, taking note of “serious medical issues” in his hospital report, the HC had extended the stay of Father Stan Swamy, Holy Family Hospital for two weeks, till July 5.
The Bombay High Court Friday said Father Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest and activist arrested last year in the Elgaar Parishad case, can remain in Bandra’s Holy Family Hospital till July 6. It is expected to hear Swamy’s bail plea on the day.
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Bombay HC issues notice on petition against jail authorities withholding letters

Bombay HC issues notice on petition against jail authorities withholding letters

Bombay HC issues notice on petition by Rama Anand Teltumbde, Susan Abraham Gonsalves against jail authorities withholding letters to and from their jailed husbands

03/07/2021

The Leaflet / by Hamza Lakdawala

The Bombay High Court Saturday issued a notice to the Maharashtra Government, the National Investigation Agency(NIA), and the jail superintendent on a petition filed by Rama Anand Teltumbde and Susan Abraham Gonsalves seeking a direction from the court to the Superintendent of Taloja Prison to allow letter communication between the petitioners and their respective jailed husbands.
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Permit Anand Teltumbde & Vernon Gonsalves To Receive & Send Letters : Spouses Move Bombay High Court

03/07/2021

Live Law / by Shrutika Pandey

A plea has been filed by wives of Anand Teltumbde and Vernon Gonsalves in the Bombay High Court seeking action against the Superintendent of Taloja Prison for withholding communication from Teltumbde and other co-accused to their family members. The matter was posted before a division bench of Justice S.S Shinde and N.J Jamadar, where counsel on behalf of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Sandish Patel, contended not receiving a copy of the petition; thus, the matter was adjourned with directions to serve the respondents.
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Insurmountable Condition For Bail: Stan Swamy Challenges Constitutionality Of Section 43D(5)

Insurmountable Condition For Bail: Stan Swamy Challenges Constitutionality Of Section 43D(5)

Insurmountable Condition For Bail: Stan Swamy Challenges Constitutionality Of Section 43D(5) In Bombay High Court

03/07/2021

Live Law / by Srishti Ojha

Octogenarian Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist, from Ranchi and accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad case, has moved the Bombay High Court challenging the Section 43-D (5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which imposes strict conditions for grant of bail, for being violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
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Fr Stan Swamy challenges constitutional validity of UAPA’s bar on grant of bail before Bombay HC

03/07/2021

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Bhima Koregoan case, has approached the Bombay HC challenging Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] which bars grant of bail if the accusation is prima facie true.
In his plea, Swamy has contended that this provision creates an unsurmountable hurdle for the accused to get bail and, thus, is violative of Articles 14 (right to equality)  and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.
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Medical Negligence: NHRC Seeks Action Taken Report from Taloja Jail on Stan Swamy

Medical Negligence: NHRC Seeks Action Taken Report from Taloja Jail on Stan Swamy

Medical Negligence: NHRC Seeks Action Taken Report from Taloja Jail on Stan Swamy

01/07/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The NHRC’s move came after a Jesuit lawyer sought its intervention, saying that an Ayurveda doctor had treated the severely ailing activist at a time when he had showed several symptoms of COVID-19.
The National Human Rights Commission has asked for an ‘action taken’ report from the Taloja jail superintendent in connection with allegations that 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy was denied medical facilities.
The Telegraph newspaper has reported that NHRC assistant registrar of law, Subhra Tyagi, sent the email to jail authorities on June 26.
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NHRC seeks report on Stan Swamy jail care

01/07/2021

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The octogenarian was allegedly denied medical facilities at the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an action taken report from the superintendent of prisons in connection with the alleged denial of medical facilities to octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy at the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.
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Also read: Amid pandemic, India’s political prisoners struggle with failing health in unequipped jails (The Caravan, June 2021)

Court allows ED to record Navlakha’s statement in NewsClick money laundering probe

Court allows ED to record Navlakha’s statement in NewsClick money laundering probe

Newsclick / by Express News Service

Navlakha, who was arrested last year by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Elgaar Parishad case, is currently lodged in Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.
A special court on Wednesday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to record the statement of activist-journalist Gautam Navlakha in connection with its money laundering probe against online news portal NewsClick.
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Appeal for the immediate release of human rights defenders in jail

Appeal for the immediate release of human rights defenders in jail


Prison diaries. Drawing by Arun Ferreira

theworldiswatchingindia.com / by CIVICUS, World Organisation Against Torture, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch

The undersigned organisations wish to draw the Human Rights Council’s attention to the health and safety of Indian human rights defenders in prison, detained on politically motivated charges, and at grave risk due to Covid-19. The human rights crisis unfolding in India, including the jailing of defenders, has been met with relative silence from the international community. The use of counter-terror legal provisions to incarcerate defenders has taken a serious turn with the impact of Covid-19. As India struggles to cope with a new and deadly wave of the virus, jailed defenders are at serious risk, many of whom have tested positive for Covid-19 or are showing symptoms. The denial of medical bail, basic medical facilities, and communication or access to families even in the midst of the current surge in cases and deaths in India, is an act of cruelty, and a violation of their right to life and dignity.
Read full statement

Keeping Quiet is Not an Option: Nayantara Sahgal on „Sudha Bharadwaj Speaks – A Life in Law and Activism“

Keeping Quiet is Not an Option: Nayantara Sahgal on „Sudha Bharadwaj Speaks – A Life in Law and Activism“

Feminist Dissent / by Nayantara Sahgal

From a speech given on January 24, 2021

Keeping quiet is not an option. We must speak, write, paint, sing, dance for the freedom to dissent, and for our human rights.

Let me take a moment to explain why I am especially glad and proud to be releasing this book about Sudha Bharadwaj. I grew up to the sights and sounds of revolution. My family fought for freedom under Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership and my father died of his 4th imprisonment during British rule. The only mantra I learned was ‘Ishvar Allah tere nam, sabko sammati de Bhagvan’ (one of Gandhi’s favourite devotional hymns about the oneness of god). And the slogan of that long hard struggle for freedom was Inquilab Zindabad (long live the revolution).
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Also read:
● Sudha Bharadwaj Speaks – A Life in Law and Activism (PUCL, Jan 2021)
Access PDF copy of the book here

Rally for jailed Indian scholars held in Surrey, Canada

Rally for jailed Indian scholars held in Surrey, Canada


Surrey, June 27

Countercurrents.org / by Countercurrents

Close to the birthday of George Orwell and the 46th anniversary of Emergency in the world’s so called largest democracy, activists came together in Surrey on Sunday, June 27, to raise their voices against the incarceration of thinkers by the Indian authorities.
Organized by Radical Desi publications, the rally was held right outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center. The participants carried placards with pictures of jailed scholars who are being detained under trumped up charges for merely questioning the power and standing up for the poor and marginalized.
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