hindi | 1: 33 min | 2020
Women workers and farmers from Baloda Bazaar who have been involved in a long struggle against Ambuja Cement and led a strong anti-liquor campaign speak in support of Sudha.
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18/11/2020
Live Law / by Nitish Kshyap
Taking note of the critical medical condition of the 81-year old undertrial Varavara Rao, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed that he be shifted to Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital from Taloja Jail, for 15 days for a thorough check-up.
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+++ By Live Law: Bombay High Court allowing the shifting of Varavara Rao from Taloja prison to Nanavati Hospital. Court has also ordered that he shouldn’t be discharged without informing it.+++
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18/11/2020
Bar & Bench / by Bar & Bench
Jaising today confined her arguments to interim relief that Rao be shifted out of the jail hospital and to Nanavati hospital for tests and treatment.
The Bombay High Court today directed the immediate transfer of poet activist Dr Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, from Taloja jail to the Nanavati hospital for medical examinations and treatment in view of concerns over his deteriorating health condition.
… Read a live account of the hearing today.
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en | 7:25 min | 2020
India Ahead News / India Ahead News talks with Venugopal Rao
Bhima Koregaon case accused Varavara Rao’s kin Venugopal Rao calls #Bombay #HighCourt allowing him to be admitted to Nanavati hospital for treatment a small relief, says family was expecting bail.
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18/11/2020
Mumbai High Court directs the government to shift poet Varavara Rao to Nanavati Hospital immediately for examinations and treatment for multiple issues of kidney, liver, heart and brain as the medical reports of November 13 and 17 revealed. Initially the government was asked to keep him in the hospital for 15 days. The government was also asked not to shift him back to jail, without informing the court. The court also allowed family members to visit VV, as per the hospital protocols.
N Venugopal
mid-day / by Shunashir Sen
A musical event this weekend will highlight the plight of political activists locked behind bars
Justice delayed is justice denied. That’s the maxim that some people have brought up in connection to political activists who have been imprisoned without their bail pleas being heard, some for years on end. The country’s criminal justice system is in the spotlight at a time when people are voicing their concern about the pending cases of activists Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen and hundreds of others like them who have been spending their nights in jail cells.
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18/11/2020
The Hindu / by Special Correspondent
Members of several Christian organisations took out a silent rally in Belagavi on Tuesday to protest against what they called the unlawful arrest of pro-people activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy.
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18/11/2020
UCA News / by UCA News reporter
President and PM urged to seek release of Father Swamy, whose health is deteriorating in jail.
Christian leaders have appealed to the Indian president and prime minister to help end the detention of an elderly Jesuit after the priest wrote to a colleague saying that his deteriorating health has rendered him unable to eat or drink without help from jail inmates.
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17/11/2020
Live Law / by Livelaw News Network
The medical report prepared by the doctors of Nanavati hospital after examining 81-year old undertrial Varavara Rao through video call is a ‘complete eyewash’, said his lawyer Senior Advocate Indira Jaising in the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.
Jaising raised serious objections against the medical report.
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17/11/2020
Hindustan Times / by KAY Dohiya
The directions were issued after senior counsel Indira Jaising informed the court that the report provided to them on Tuesday afternoon was incomplete and did not have any details of the tests done on Rao.
The Bombay high court has directed Maharashtra to provide details of the examination conducted by the doctors of Nanavati Hospital through video consultation on 81-year-old Telugu poet P Varavara Rao to his wife. The latter has petitioned the court to shift the Bhima Koregaon accused from Taloja jail to Nanavati Hospital.
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17/11/2020
The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev
Doctors from Nanavati Hospital assessed Rao’s condition on 13 November via teleconsultation, report submitted to HC.
The Bombay High Court will continue to hear the petitions filed by 80-year-old Varavara Rao at 11 am on Wednesday, 18 November, including the request to transfer him to Nanavati Hospital for treatment while his medical and humanitarian bail pleas are considered by the court.
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17/11/2020
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
The Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Madhav Jamdar adjourned the matter today after experiencing audio reception difficulties during the virtual hearing today.
The plea seeking the release of poet-activist Dr Varavara Rao on medical bail and allied prayers will be heard by the Bombay High Court in physical court tomorrow.
The matter was taken up today afternoon following the last hearing on November 12. However, it was adjourned to tomorrow following a brief hearing as the Bench was unable to clearly hear submissions made by Rao’s counsel, Indira Jaising during the video conference hearing today.
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By National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD)
Press Release
Nov 17, 2020
The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission seeking its intervention to provide reasonable accommodations to Fr. Stan Swamy, who is lodged in the Taloja Jail, Maharashtra.
83-year old Stan Swamy is a person living with Parkinson’s, which is a condition recognised as disabling as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. As per various laws and conventions to which India is a signatory, it is obligatory that Stan Swamy be provided with requisite age & disability appropriate accommodations, assistive aids including straws and sippers as also human care assistance as required.
The full text of the letter addressed to the NHRC Chairman yesterday is being released herewith.
(Muralidharan)
General Secretary, NPRD
…
Release the Poet / by Release the Poet Committee
730 Days without ‘Personal Liberty’! Now the Supreme Court itself is in the People’s Courtroom.
Today, on 17th November 2020, it completes two years of Varavara Rao’s arrest in the alleged Bhima Koregaon case. Since then the people’s poet is in jail with alarming health adversities. His bail pleas or applications for a proper hospitalization were repeatedly opposed and rejected, making the situation worrying for his family, comrades & peoples at large.
Even prior to and after his arrest, the list of witch hunts was far from being short! …
Frontline / by Anupama Katakam
The NIA arrests Father Stan Swamy for alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon incident, but the actual reason for the state’s witch-hunt is his strident opposition to corporate exploitation of tribal areas.
In a more tolerant time, Father Stan Swamy would have been commended for the work he does. A nation that should be proud of his contribution has instead arrested the 83-year-old Jesuit priest on false charges so that an agenda can be fulfilled. Father Swamy has spent 60 years living and working with the most marginalised tribal communities in the Bihar and Jharkhand belt. A social worker, activist and educator, his story is what legends are made of.
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16/11/2020
Article 14 / by Zaid Wahidi
On 11 November 2020, the Supreme Court granted bail to television show-host Arnab Goswami, who had been in judicial custody for seven days on an abetment to suicide charge related to a 2018 case. The merits aside, the manner in which the judicial machinery functioned to protect Goswami’s liberty was extraordinary… However, when the Supreme Court’s own approach to cases concerning personal liberty is tested on the touchstone of these observations, the reality could not be more of a contrast…
Sudha Bharadwaj: Imprisoned For 811 Days
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16/11/2020
The Hindu / by Sriram Panchu
The judiciary’s quick intervention in the Arnab Goswami case turns the spotlight on other serious cases that languish.
The facts are brief. Mr. Arnab Goswami of Republic TV, a media group perceived to be supportive of the ruling party, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on November 4, 2020 on a charge of abetting the suicide of Anvay Naik … The High Court heard his case for five hours on a holiday, and said exactly this on November 9…
There is however the disturbing contrast between the breakneck speed of the Supreme Court in this case with other cases which involve large scale and serious violations of fundamental freedoms.
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15/11/2020
Bar & Bench / by Murali Krishnan
Supreme Court Bench headed by JusticeDY Chandrachud, on November 11 granted bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami in an abetment to suicide case against him…
Below are a few cases in which Justice Chandrachud was confronted with issue of personal liberty/ bail.
Bhima -Koregaon arrests
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16/11/2020
Sabrang / by Sabrangindia
Alleging that the NIA was using under-handed methods to imprison innocent activists, MP Vijay Hansdak demanded the release and closure of the case against Fr. Stan.
“Father Stan Swamy’s arrest by the NIA [National Investigation Agency] is malicious and spiteful as he and his associates have been constantly denying any link with Maoists. The allegation against him about his links in the Bhima Koregaon case is also false and fabricated. I, on behalf of people of Jharkhand, would like to appeal to take immediate concrete action to stop the proceedings of all the false allegations against Father Swamy and release him. I also appeal to release all those innocent social activists and intellectuals who have been arrested on false allegations,” Hansdak wrote in his letter.
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15/11/2020
The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee
Rajmahal MP and JMM leader Vijay Kumar Hansdak has become the first parliamentarian from Jharkhand to come out in support of octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who has been arrested and jailed for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence and Maoist links.
In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind on November 10, Hansdak, son of former Congress MP Thomas Hansdah, has sought the immediate release of the elderly priest and closure of the “false” case lodged against Fr Swamy.
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