‘Notwithstanding the seriousness of the allegations made, every accused had a right to a speedy trial and the court had to take into account long periods of incarceration without trial as an additional consideration for grant of bail.’
A Supreme Court Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudanshu Dhulia last month granted bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Vernon Gonsalves, five years after he was arrested under the anti-terrorist legislation UAPA.
… Senior advocate Rebecca John, who argued the case, tells Jyoti Punwani how she approached this challenging case. Read more
NIA in a quandary as bail condition for mobile phone tethering turns out to be a tug
17/08/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
The bail conditions set by the Supreme Court during the grant of regular bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira mandated pairing mobile phones of the duo with the devices of the investigating officers. Now the National Investigation Agency has said that the concerned investigating officers stand to lose their privacy.
“If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,” wrote German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in his book Beyond Good And Evil.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) seems to have discovered the meaning of the quote recently.
… The matter will be further heard on September 5. Read more
NIA expresses concern over bail condition asking officers to pair phones with Bhima Koregaon accused
18/08/2023
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The central agency told a special court that the condition could infringe on the privacy of the investigating officers.
The National Investigation Agency on Thursday expressed concern about the Supreme Court’s bail condition that activists Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves pair their mobile phones with investigating officers. Read more
Anand Teltumbde is a scholar and civil rights activist known for his extensive work on B.R. Ambedkar’s life and work as well as the caste issue. He was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case in 2020 and released on bail in November 2022 after spending 31 months in jail. The 72-year-old spoke to Snigdhendu Bhattacharya. Read more
While the speakers at the event expressed concerns about the misuse of technology as experienced in the Bhima Koregaon episode, where malware was used to trap activists, their speeches ended on a positive note.
In December 2019, a year and a half after the arrest of 16 activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, the then editor of the Caravan magazine, Vinod Jose, got a copy of the hard disk of the laptop used by Rona Wilson, from where an ‘incriminating’ email that led to the arrests was ‘found’. Vinod, sitting at a seminar on media freedom and technology at the Freedom Fest – a technology-related event organised by the government of Kerala – spoke of the Caravan’s discovery of a malware that was planted in Rona’s hard disk, which could plant or ferret out any information from the laptop, without his knowledge. Read more
Courts should scrutinise the case of the investigating agency and if it lacks credibility, act against the investigating officer, said Justice Madan B Lokur.
On July 28, the Supreme Court granted bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, who are among the 16 people arrested in the Elgar-Parishad Bhima Koregaon case in 2018. The Supreme Court’s significant observations include the “weak probative value” of primary evidence in the case and the “mere possession” of literature that inspires or propagates violence not being offences under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Read more
Words speak the unvarnished truth in this anthology representing six decades of Varavara Rao’s career as a poet.
Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao is a thin, wiry man with the kind of leanness that Julius Caesar found scary in Cassius in Shakespeare’s play. Rao was arrested in 2018 on charges of inciting caste violence and plotting to assassinate the Indian Prime Minister (and released on bail in 2022 on health grounds). The publication of this anthology of Rao’s poetry has been much delayed reportedly because of legal issues. Some words used by Rao have apparently been removed from the translation to avoid attracting the charge of sedition. Read more
Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves were released after 5 years in jail!
Join our discussion on their bail order and to understand its implications! How can we advocate for the release of all political prisoners arrested under UAPA?
Discussing the Supreme Court’s decision in granting bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferriera accused in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case, members from People’s Union for Civil Liberties said the bail order has significant implications for bail jurisprudence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, UAPA, in the framework of criminal law.
The members highlighted the top court’s bail-granting powers under the UAPA, which flows from the Zahood Ahmad Watali judgment. Read more
en | 1h 42min | 2022
The discussion moderated by PUCL General Secretary, V Suresh, Arvind Narrain, VP Karnataka State PUCL and Kavita Srivastava, National Secretary PUCL Watch video (PUCL fb page)
NIA claims fact-finding conducted by Gautam Navlakha was sponsored to further terrorist activities
09/08/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
The National Investigation Agency has also claimed that the perception of resistance from members of the banned organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) against Navlakha was deliberately created.
On Wednesday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige continued hearing the bail application filed by journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha. Read more
NIA emphasises charges of conspiracy and common intention to further terrorist activities against Gautam Navlakha
08/08/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
The National Investigation Agency argued that the individual roles of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case should not be looked into in isolation from the larger conspiracy.
On Monday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige continued hearing the bail application filed by journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha. Read more
Gautam Navlakha part of urban naxal movement which arranges manpower, funds for rural naxal struggle: NIA to Bombay High Court
08/08/2023
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Responding to Navlakha’s claims that he was not involved in any violent acts for seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018, ASG Devang Vyas argued that Navlakha was assigned a role in the larger conspiracy.
Human rights activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha was part of an urban movement to arrange for logistics for the rural naxal movement, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Monday while opposing Navlakha’s bail application. Read more
The National Investigation Agency opposed the bail plea of Elgar Parishad case accused, Gautam Navlakha, in the Bombay High Court.
Opposing the bail plea of Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, the National Investigation Agency told the Bombay High Court that Navlakha was part of “Urban Naxals” to arrange logistics for Naxal movements in rural areas. Read more
PUDR welcomes the release on bail of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira today, but protests onerous bail conditions
05/08/2023
pudr.org / by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR))
People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) welcomes the Supreme Court order granting bail on merits and release of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, two of the accused in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In a significant judgement, on 28 July 2023, the top court granted bail for two primary reasons: the fact that the accused had already been incarcerated for 5 years with the trial not having commenced yet, and that the NIA had been unable to justify, even prima facie, the allegations against them.
… However, what is even more disturbing is that the apex court has allowed for further conditions to be set by the special trial court, conditions that the latter may “consider fit and proper”. Accordingly, on July 31, the special NIA court has set further conditions which prohibit the duo from: Read full statement:
By Meera Sanghamitra / @meeracomposes (Aug 5, 2023)
Activists #VernonGonsalves & #ArunFerreira, walk out of jail finally! Small mercies after unjust incarceration over 5 long years! Zindabad, Salaam, Arun & Vernon! Ur beautiful smiles despite so much of injustice, puts this entire system to shame!
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners
