Posts – Page 6 – free them all

Supreme Court to hear bail plea of activist Jyoti Jagtap and the appeal against Mahesh Raut’s bail

06/09/2025 Asha

Hindustan Times / by pti

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday the bail plea of activist Jyoti Jagtap who was arrested in 2020 in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma is also likely to hear a petition filed by the National Investigation Agency challenging the bail granted to activist Mahesh Raut.
He was given bail by the Bombay High Court but the order was stayed after the NIA sought stay on the verdict to challenge it before the apex court.
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Also read:
▪ Supreme Court adjourns bail pleas of Surendra Gadling and Jyoti Jagtap (Hindustan Times / Mar 2025)
▪ SC adjourns bail pleas of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap in Bhima Koregaon case (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
▪ How Kabir Kala Manch, the anti-caste cultural troupe, challenges the hierarchical social order (Scroll.in / Jul 2024)
▪ Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC! (SabrangIndia / Sep 2023)
▪ Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)

NIA court grants interim bail Surendra Gadling to attend family rituals

05/09/2025 Asha

Hindustan Times / by Prateem Rohanekar

Gadling, arrested in 2018 for alleged Maoist links, had sought bail from September 3 to 19 following the death of his sister-in-law Kavita Narendra Gadling on September 1. His counsel argued that his presence was necessary as the family shared close ties, adding that he had earlier honoured all interim bail conditions without misuse
A special NIA court in Mumbai on Wednesday granted temporary bail to Nagpur-based lawyer and activist Surendra Pundlik Gadling, an accused in the Elgar Parishad–Koregaon Bhima case, to attend post-death rituals of his sister-in-law.
Read more

Also read:
▪ SC to hear bail plea of Bhima Koregaon accused Surendra Gadling on Sep 17 (Hindustan Times / Sep 2025)
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)

No trial, no bail; no justice

05/09/2025 Asha

Madhyamam / by Editorial Desk

The government is delaying the trial without even starting it, as there is no evidence to establish fabricated charges against the accused, and for buying time to produce false witnesses and false evidence.
… Dr Hani Babu, a Keralite professor at Delhi University, has been facing this kind of ‘punishment’ for more than five years. Hani Babu’s crime is that he campaigned against caste-based injustices and social inequalities. He has been arrested and sent to a Maharashtra jail in the Bhima-Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, which has implicated leading rights activists in the country, from Stan Swami to Sudha Bharadwaj.
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Also read:
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
▪ Who Is a ‘Political Prisoner’? Rona Wilson Says Caste and Religion Are Key to the Answer (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ When Push Comes to Shove: Tracking Judicial Recusals and Transfers (The Wire / Apr 2023)
▪ Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

Supreme Court defers Surendra Gadling’s bail once again; 17 adjournments in two years

03/09/2025 Asha

Supreme Court defers Surendra Gadling’s bail once again; 17 adjournments in two years

04/09/2025

Bar & Bench / by Ritwik Choudhury

The human rights lawyer has been in custody for over six years without charges being framed in connection with the 2016 Surajgarh arson case.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the bail plea of human rights lawyer and Surajgarh arson accused Surendra Gadling for the 17th time since it was first filed in August 2023 [Surendra Pundalik Gadling vs State of Maharashtra].
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SC to hear bail plea of Bhima Koregaon accused Surendra Gadling on Sep 17

03/09/2025

Hindustan Times / by Abraham Thomas

The decision comes a week after another bench of the top court recused from hearing the matter amid concerns raised by Gadling’s lawyers over the long pendency of the matter since August 2023
The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed September 17 as the date for hearing the bail plea of Bhima Koregaon violence accused and lawyer Surendra Gadling, a week after another bench of the top court recused from hearing the matter amid concerns raised by his lawyers over the long pendency of the matter since August 2023.
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Supreme Court to hear next week Surendra Gadling’s bail plea

29/08/2025

Law Beat / by Aishwarya Iyer

Gadling had reportedly asked Maoists to oppose the operation of Surjagarh mines and instigated several locals to join the movement.
The Supreme Court today has agreed to list next week the bail plea filed by Surendra Gadling, accused in the Bhima Koregoan Elghar Parishad Violence case of 2018.
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Supreme Court to hear Surendra Galding’s bail plea on September 3

29/08/2025

The New Indian Express / by pti

On August 8, senior advocate Anand Grover mentioned the matter before CJI Gavai for an early hearing, citing his client Gadling’s over six-year-long incarceration.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list on September 3 the hearing on the bail plea of advocate Surendra Gadling, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Supreme Court Judge Justice MM Sundresh Recuses Himself From Hearing Bail Plea Of Advocate Surendra Gadling (Free Press Journal / Aug 2025)
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
▪ Villagers in Gadchiroli campaign to shut down Surjagarh iron ore mine (Land Conflict Watch / Feb 2017)

Koregaon Bhima Probe: Spotlight on Uddhav Thackeray

03/09/2025 Asha

Booklet: “Salaakhon Mein Qaid Avaazein” (Access PDF)

Pune Mirror / by Swapnil Hajare

Committee asks former CM to submit Sharad Pawar’s letter by Sept 22
The ongoing Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has taken a decisive turn, putting former chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray into the spotlight. The commission has formally requested Thackeray to produce a letter allegedly written to him by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar in January 2020, which, according to claims, blamed the then BJP-led government of Devendra Fadnavis for orchestrating the January 1, 2018 Koregaon Bhima violence.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Bhima Koregaon commission gets 18th extension (Hindustan Times / Aug 2025)
▪ Alternative reading of Bhima Koregaon: A Maharashtra outfit is trying to advance Dalit cause from Hindutva orbit (The Indian Express / Apr 2025)
▪ Why caste Hindutva, not an Elgar conspiracy, is at the root of the Bhima Koregaon violence (The Polis Project / Feb 2025)
▪ Book Excerpt | How Bhima Koregaon Became a Trope for Dalit Pride and Assertion (The Wire │ by Ajaz Ashraf │ June 2024)

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill / PSA a bid to criminalise organisations

03/09/2025 Asha

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill

03/09/2025

Hindustan Times / by Mayura Janwalkar

Civil society in Maharashtra plans protests against the “draconian” Special Public Security Bill, claiming it suppresses dissent and violates rights.
Civil society groups in Maharashtra are preparing to launch protests against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, calling it “draconian” and an attempt to suppress dissent against the state.
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PSA a bid to criminalise varied organisations: Sudha Bharadwaj

31/08/2025

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

Bharadwaj was among the speakers at a webinar organised by All India Inquilabi Youth and Students Alliance (ALIYSA) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) along with senior advocate Mihir Desai and activist Ulka Mahajan
Human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj said on Saturday that it was a great thing that the civil society in Maharashtra had already begun protesting against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, passed by the state’s legislative assembly in its recently concluded monsoon session.
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Also read:
▪ Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance (Outlook | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)
▪ New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It (Deccan Chronicle / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)

Anand Teltumbde chronicles his 31-month stay in Taloja jail

01/09/2025 Asha

Poster by Siddesh Gautam / #bakeryprasad

Hindustan Times / by Prawesh Lama

Scholar activist Anand Teltumbde offers an insider’s account of life behind bars in his book – The Cell and the Soul
What unfolded inside prisons while the nation battled the Covid-19 pandemic? How does corruption between jailers and prisoners thrive behind bars? And how are rules quietly bent for high-profile prisoners held in Maharashtra’s infamous Anda cells — the high-security egg-shaped units?
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The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256

Noted social activist Anand Teltumbde entered the Taloja Central Prison as accused number 10 in the Bhima Koregaon case and spent 31 months as an undertrial until he was released on bail. As an intellectual who was stripped of his freedom, he lays bares the chilling realities of India’s prisons in his gut-wrenching prison memoir. Part memoir, part diary, Cell and the Soul is a descent into the heart of India’s carceral state, ripping open the belly of the beast-the prison industrial complex-and exposing the brutal, pulsating injustice within.

When you read a book, you disappear into different voices: Gautam Navlakha

31/08/2025 Asha

Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

Frontline / by Majid Maqbool

From his early days with EPW to years in prison, the journalist shows how books sustain dissent, nourish freedom, and open a world beyond captivity.
Writer, journalist, and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha has had a decades-long career spanning journalism to activism. All along, through his writings and rights activism, he has always been committed to democratic rights and social justice for all. He has always stood by, spoken out and written in defence of the marginalised communities whose voices he has sought to amplify throughout his career.
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Gautam Navlakha has a tremendous archive of writings from the 1980s to the present, documented by The Friends of Gautam Navlakha.
To read some of his recent writings and a full list of his articles with NewsClick, Economic & Political Weekly and the platform Sanhati visit: Gautam Navlakha – Journalist, Human Rights Defender, Political Prisoner

SC Justice MM Sundresh recuses from Surendra Gadling’s Bail Plea In 2016 Gadchiroli Arson Case

26/08/2025 Asha

Supreme Court Judge Justice MM Sundresh Recuses Himself From Hearing Bail Plea Of Advocate Surendra Gadling In Elgar Parishad Case

27/08/2025

Free Press Journal / by FPJ News Service

The plea was scheduled to be heard by a bench comprising Justice Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh. Earlier, on August 8, senior advocate Anand Grover had mentioned the case before Chief Justice BR Gavai, seeking an early hearing on grounds that Gadling has been in jail for over six-and-a-half years.
Supreme Court judge Justice MM Sundresh on Tuesday recused himself from hearing the bail plea of advocate Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Elgar Parishad–Maoist links case.
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Justice MM Sundresh Recuses From Hearing Surendra Gadling’s Bail Plea In 2016 Gadchiroli Arson Case

26/08/2025

Live Law / by Amisha Shrivastava

The matter will be heard by another bench.
Justice MM Sundresh of the Supreme Court recused himself from hearing the bail plea of Dalit rights activist and advocate Surendra Gadling in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case. The matter was listed today before a bench of Justice Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh.
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Supreme Court Justice MM Sundresh recuses from Surendra Gadling bail case

26/08/2025

Bar & Bench / by Ummar Jamal

According to the details available on the Supreme Court website, the matter is not to be listed before Justice Sundresh.
Supreme Court Justice MM Sundresh on Tuesday recused from hearing the bail plea filed by lawyer and activist Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surajgarh arson case [Surendra Pundalik Gadling vs State of Maharashtra].
According to the details available on the Supreme Court website, the matter is not to be listed before Justice Sundresh.
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Justice M.M. Sundresh recuses from hearing activist Surendra Gadling’s bail plea after repeated adjournments

26/08/2025

The Hindu / by Aaratrika Bhaumik

Activist Surendra Gadling’s counsel had earlier apprised Chief Justice B.R. Gavai that his bail plea had been adjourned 11 times in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court judge Justice M.M. Sundresh on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) recused himself from hearing a bail petition filed by advocate and activist Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case.
Read more

Also read:
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
▪ SC to consider listing bail plea of Surendra Gadling (Hindustan Times / Aug 2025)
▪ Will anti-Naxal drive pave way for mining giants? (New Indian Express / May 2025)
▪ How Long is Too Long? – On the Maximum Period that an Undertrial Prisoner can be Detained (Constitutional Law and Philosophy | by Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling | Oct 2024)
▪ When Push Comes to Shove: Tracking Judicial Recusals and Transfers (The Wire / Apr 2023)
▪ DISINHERITING ADIVASIS – THE GADCHIROLI GAME PLAN (KAFILA / June 2018)

Special NIA court allows Sagar Gorkhe to use laptop in prison for case files

26/08/2025 Asha

Times of India / by TNN

A special NIA court on Tuesday granted Elgar Parishad accused, Sagar Gorkhe, permission to use a personal laptop to access his case files while in prison.
The judge acknowledged the substantial volume of legal documents in the case, stating, “It is next to impossible to carry each and every hard copy of the case papers in the prison and read it… it is easier for the accused to use his laptop and study his own case as he wishes,” the judge said.
Read more

Also read:
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project / Feb 2025)
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Jailed Activists (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Maharashtra: Raising the bar from behind bars (Midday.com / May 2024)
▪ Bhima Koregaon case: Two prisoners pass law entrance test (Hindustan Times / May 2024)