Posts – Page 81 – free them all

Should anyone be jailed for shouting ‘murdabad’?/ Video: Personal Liberty and the Indian Courts

Supreme Court’s suspension of Dr. G.N. Saibaba’s acquittal: ‘Technical grounds are also substantive’, says senior advocate, Mihir Desai

26/10/2022

The Leaflet / by Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

Three recent judgments, controversial for their adverse impact on civil liberties, came in for critical review at an online event, organised by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
On October 25, the human rights body, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (‘PUCL’) hosted a webinar on the effect of three recent judgments: Jyoti Japtap versus NIA (in which the Bombay High Court denied bail to activist and performer Jyoti Japtap, detained as an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case), State of Maharashtra versus Mahesh Kariman Tirki & Ors. (in which the Supreme Court stayed the acquittal by the Bombay high court of scholar, writer and activist Dr. G.N Saibaba’s conviction in a Maoist links case), and Umar Khalid versus State of NCT of Delhi (in which the Delhi High Court denied bail to activist Umar Khalid, detained as an accused in the Delhi riots case).
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Should anyone be jailed for shouting ‘murdabad,’ says senior advocate Mihir Desai

26/10/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

He made the statement during a discussion on three judgements that denied bail to activists Jyoti Jagtap and Umar Khalid.
Should a person be jailed if he shouts murdabad (death to) slogans, asked senior advocate Mihir Desai during an event organised by People’s Union for Civil Liberties on Tuesday, reported Live Law.
He made the statement during a discussion on three judgements that denied bail to activists Jyoti Jagtap and Umar Khalid and stay on the acquittal of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba.
Read more

Conspiracy Allegation Used To Fill Gaps, Speeches Given A Criminal Colour: Gautam Bhatia On Umar Khalid, Jyoti Jagtap Bail Orders

26/10/2022

Live Law / by Padmakshi Sharma

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) hosted an online event to discuss three recent judgements pertaining to civil liberties. The judgements included Bombay High Court’s denial of bail to Jyoti Jagtap (Jyoti Jagtap v. National Investigating Agency and Anr.), Supreme Court’s stay on the acquittal of Dr G.N. Saibaba (State of Maharashtra v. Mahesh Kariman Tirki And Ors.) and Delhi High Court’s denial of bail to Umar Khalid (Umar Khalid v. State of NCT of Delhi).
Read more

Video: Personal Liberty and the Indian Courts

25/10/2022

en | 1h 42min | 2022

The discussion examines the recent three judgements relating to
► The denial of bail of Jyoti Jagtap by the Bombay High Court in the Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy case.
► The stay on the Bombay High Court judgement of acquittal/discharge of Dr. GN Saibaba and others by the Supreme Court
► The denial of bail by the Delhi High Court of Umar Khalid in the Conspiracy case of the Delhi Riots of 2020.
Senior Advocate Mihir Desai and Advocate Gautam Bhatia spoke at the meeting and responded to these judgements.
An update on the delay in the release of Siddique Kappan was shared by Advocate Mohammed Danish from Kappan’s legal team
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)

by Live Law (Oct 25, 2022)
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) hosts an online discussion on 3 recent judgements- denial of bail of #JyotiJagtap; Supreme Court’s stay on the acquittal of #DrGNSaibaba and; the denial of bail of #UmarKhalid

The judgments will be discussed by Senior Advocate Mihir Desai (@mihirde19079979) Advocate Tara Naruala (@taranarula1) and Advocate Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88)

Advocate Gautam Bhatia: We often hear that the trial courts and the High courts, when they are dealing with UAPA, have their hand tied owing to the text of the UAPA and the Watali judgement. I believe that there is space for the courts to work around.
…
Desai: Jyoti’s name was there in FIR from Day 1 as having shouted slogans at Elgar Parishad and being part of a play which dealt with issues such as demonitisation and dalit rights, which is now considered by the court as serious.

Desai: Most important aspect is the question of frontal organization. Jyoti was a part of Kabir Kala Manch, which is a frontal organisation but no-one knew that it was a frontal organisation.

Desai: You can’t throw names that this is a frontal organisation unless you come with a clear government notification. What is the basis of holding Kabir Kala Manch as a frontal organisation? Nothing.

Desai: Just the other day the prime minister called narmada bachao andolan as an urban naxal movement – anything can be called…which is okay for politicians but for courts to hold such organisations as frontal organisation is wrong.

Desai: In Jyoti Jagtap’s case, even prosecution admitted that there were around 150 organisations…even retired HC and SC judges included in Elgar Parishad…how are you picking one or two members like that? There is no link.
…

Read full thread

Also read:
● Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is Now the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)
● Kabir Kala Manch Incited Hatred By Ridiculing Phrases Acche Din, Demonetization In Plays: Bombay HC [read order] (Live Law / Oct 2022)
● Supreme Court Stays Release Of Prof GN Saibaba & Others In UAPA Case, Suspends Bombay HC’s Acquittal Order (Live Law / Oct 15, 2022)
● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022)

Download report

“Let there be Light”! India today, is enveloped in darkness

24/10/2022 Asha

Countercurrents / by Cedrik Prakash

India today, is enveloped in darkness! As the nation embroils itself from one issue to another, the burden is felt by the ordinary citizen, as never before and in more ways than one. Fascism throttles the country; at this juncture, one cannot help, but reminded of that immortal epigram composed by Bertolt Brecht in 1939. Brecht, a playwright and poet, who was vehemently anti-Nazi wrote, “In the dark times / will there also be singing? / Yes, there will also be singing. / About the dark times.”. In these dark times, the people of India cry out in one voice, from the depths of their being “Let there be Light”!
… At the same time, human rights defenders, those who have taken a visible and vocal stand for justice and peace, those who have taken up cudgels for the excluded and exploited, the marginalised and the minorities are at the receiving end of a brutal vengeful system. Many, as those in the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case are still languishing in jail without trial.
Read more

Supreme Court to hear on Nov 9 Navlakha’s plea seeking house arrest

21/10/2022 Asha

Supreme Court directs parties to inspect Gautam Navlakha’s medical reports

21/10/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

As the Supreme Court is set to hear Navlakha’s plea for house arrest to facilitate his medical treatment, his latest medical reports assume significance.
ON Thursday, in Gautam Navlakha versus National Investigation Agency and Anr., a division bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices K.M. Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, permitted the parties to inspect Navlakha’s medical reports sent by Jaslok Hospital, where he was taken for urgent medical examinations.
Seventy-year old journalist and human rights activist Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, is charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and is awaiting trial.
Read more

SC allows NIA to inspect health reports of activist Gautam Navlakha

21/10/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The court had ordered the authorities to admit the activist to a hospital while hearing his plea to be placed under house arrest.
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the National Investigation Agency and other parties to the Bhima Koregaon case to inspect the health reports of activist Gautam Navlakha, reported Live Law.
The Supreme Court is hearing the activist’s petition seeking to to be placed under house arrest. Navlakha has cited his ill health and poor facilities at the Taloja Jail as reasons for his demand.
… The court adjourned the matter till November 9.
Read more

Supreme Court Allows Parties To Inspect Hospital Reports On Bhima Koregaon Case Accused Gautam Navlakha’s Health Status

21/10/2022

Live Law / by Rintu Mariam Biju

The Supreme Court of India on Friday allowed the parties to inspect the reports filed by the hospital regarding Bhima Koregaon case accused, Gautam Navlakha’s health status.
On September 29, the Supreme Court had directed for Navlakha to be taken to a hospital of choice for a thorough medical check-up after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal argued that he had many health complications. The Hospital was also asked to submit a report to the Court based on the check-up.
A Bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy was considering a petition moved by Navlakha seeking transfer to house arrest.
Read more

SC to hear on Nov 9 Navlakha’s plea seeking house arrest

21/10/2022

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Navlakha, who was lodged in Taloja jail, had approached the SC challenging the Bombay High Court decision rejecting the prayer to place him under house arrest.
Deferring the hearing to November 9 on a plea by Gautam Navlakha, who is behind bars under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the Bhima Koregaon case, seeking house arrest, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the parties to inspect his medical reports submitted by the Jaslok Hospital where he was taken for a medical check-up.
Read more

Also read:
● Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails (Peoples Union for Democratic Rights / Sep 2022)

Sudha Bharadwaj restarts law practice after 3 years in prison

21/10/2022 Asha

Hindustan Times / by Gautam S. Mengle

When she was released on conditional bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, for which she spent over three years in jail, one of the first things Sudha Bharadwaj asked her daughter to send from her home in Bilaspur were her black coat and her lawyer’s sanad.
Her black lawyer’s coat hangs from the back of her chair, the computer on the table has multiple windows open – the websites of various courts in Maharashtra – and a stack of handwritten letters await her attention.
Read more (for HT subscribers only)

by Kavita Srivastava (Oct 21, 2022):

Also watch/read:

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022

en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails.
Watch video

● Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Pictures credit: PUCL
Cover Design / Layout: Vinay Jain
Paperback: 316 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here:
Sudha_Bharadwaj_speaks (2,1 MB)

Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery

20/10/2022 Asha

posters by @/bakeryprasad

The Wire / by Gautam Bhatia

The judgments denying bail to Jyoti Jagtap and Umar Khalid – from the Bombay and Delhi high courts respectively – reveal that UAPA adjudication continues to be inconsistent and judge-centric.
In June and October 2021, the Delhi and Bombay high courts had passed two important judgments on bail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The Delhi high court’s judgment(s) granted bail to Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita, and Natasha Narwal, who were accused of various UAPA offences arising out of the February 2020 Delhi riots. The Bombay high court granted bail to Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmed, who was accused of criminal conspiracy involving members of the banned ISIS group.
The significance of these judgments – I had written at the time – lay in how they articulated a “jurisprudence of liberty” within the stringent confines of the UAPA.
Read more

Also read/watch:
● As Bhima Koregaon case completes its fourth anniversary, State reprisal is writ large in its twists and turns (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) – A short documentary on Kabir Kala Manch | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Securing the right to health of political prisoners

19/10/2022 Asha

The Leaflet / by Rohin Bhatt

It is time that the right to health becomes a reality, in letter and spirit to every person, irrespective of their incarceration status. This will have to be done through a wide scale, public health campaign, and rapid recruitment of qualified doctors with training in evidence-based medicine that can provide adequate care to prisoners.
It has been good law in India since Bandhua Mukti Morcha versus Union of India (1983) that the right to health is a fundamental part of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution…
However, what happens when you are a political prisoner in India? These rights are vitiated, and the process becomes the punishment.
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Relatives of BK16 Flag Prison Authorities’ ‘Criminal Negligence’ and Deteriorating Health of Undertrials (Newsclick / Sep 2022)
● Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails (Peoples Union for Democratic Rights / Sep 2022)
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20, 2022)

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022

Statement by CASR: Release Saibaba and Others / Mining in Gadchiroli

19/10/2022 Asha

Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression

Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) Strongly condemns the Supreme Court’s order to suspend the Acquittal of Saibaba and Others in Gadchiroli case pertaining to alleged ‘Maoist link’.
… They want to keep in jail, every voice that foisted the state’s attempt to militarily loot the people of their resources and livelihood through Operation Green-Hunt, which Saibaba and other’s jailed in Gadchiroli case and Bhima Koregaon case have strongly resisted. They want to do so to continue the exploitation of people and their resources in far off Central Indian Regions, in North Eastern states, Kashmir and everywhere. This is not just an attack on Saibaba and others, but a clear sign of continuing and ever sharpening attack on all involved in the struggle for a democratic society.
Read full statement

Also read:
● Appeal to Supreme Court of India to review and reconsider Saibaba’s and Others Case (Countercurrents.org / by Defense Committee for the Release of Saibaba / Oct 18, 2022)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● DISINHERITING ADIVASIS – THE GADCHIROLI GAME PLAN (KAFILA / June 2018)
● Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents / June 2017)

Kabir Kala Manch incited hatred, passion at Elgar Parishad: Bombay High Court [read order]

18/10/2022 Asha

Kabir Kala Manch Incited Hatred By Ridiculing Phrases Acche Din, Demonetization In Plays: Bombay HC [read order]

18/10/2022

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Text ridiculing phrases like ‘Ram Mandir’ and ‘Acche Din’ aimed at the democratically elected government in Kabir Kala Manch’s plays at the Elgar Parishad event in 2017 incited hatred & passion and indicate a larger conspiracy, the Bombay High Court has held.
In its detailed order refusing bail to accused Jyoti Jagtap under UAPA, the HC also took exception to the mention of ‘gomutra,’ ‘calling the PM an ‘infant,’ ‘sanatan dharma,’ ‘atrocities of peshwas towards dalits’ and ‘atrocities of dalits in today’s India’ etc.
Read more

Kabir Kala Manch incited hatred, passion at Elgar Parishad: Bombay High Court

17/10/2022

India Today / by Vidya

Jyoti Jagtap was an active member of the KKM which, during its stage play at the Elgar Parishad conclave on December 31, 2017, gave not only “aggressive but highly provocative slogans”, the court said.
The Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) admittedly performed and incited hatred by performing on an agenda in the Elgar Parishad event, the judgment passed by the division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and MN Jadhav of the Bombay High Court observed while rejecting the bail plea of one of the accused, Jyoti Jagtap.
Read more

Also read:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)

Bombay High Court rejects bail petition of Kabir Kala Manch activist Jyoti Jagtap

17/10/2022 Asha

Bombay HC rejects activist Jyoti Jagtap’s bail petition

17/10/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

A bench comprising Justices Ajay Gadkari and Milind Jadhav observed that the case filed against her by the National Investigation Agency was prima facie true.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected a bail application filed by activist Jyoti Jagtap, one of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case, Bar and Bench reported.
Jagtap, who is a member of cultural organisation Kabir Kala Manch, has been in prison since September 2020. On Monday, a bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Milind Jadhav rejecting her bail plea, observing that the case filed against her by the National Investigation Agency was prima facie true.
Read more

Bombay High Court rejects bail plea of Jyoti Jagtap

17/10/2022

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

A bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Milind Jadhav observed that the NIA case was prima facie true and considering the material against Jagtap, the appeal challenging rejection of bail by Special Court stood dismissed.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected the regular bail application filed by Jyoti Jagtap, one of the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018.
Jagtap, allegedly part of the banned performance group by the name Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), had approached the High Court in appeal after a Special Court under the National Investigation Act (NIA) had rejected her bail application on February 14 this year
The high court bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Milind Jadhav, hwoever, rejected the appeal today.
Read more

Bombay High Court Denies Bail to Jyoti Jagtap

17/10/2022

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Monday denied bail to Jyoti Jagtap, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Jagtap, 32, is allegedly a member of Kabir Kala Manch — a cultural group branded as a front organisation of the banned CPI (Maoist). She was arrested by the NIA in September, 2020.
According to NIA, Jagtap and others organised the Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017 that led to violence the following day.
Read more

Also watch:
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) – A short documentary on Kabir Kala Manch | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

The End: Lessons from UAPA series

17/10/2022 Asha

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Midday / by Ajaz Ashraf

This draconian law is rarely invoked against the upper caste Hindus who are not communists or Ambedkarites or atheists, which is a commentary on the nature of the Indian state.
This column has featured, over the past five months, stories of those families whose members have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act—and persistently denied bail. They continue to languish in jail. With the exception of Fahad Shah, editor of The Kashmir Walla, the column focussed on the accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence and the 2020 Delhi riot cases. Their tragedy is compounded as the charges against them are widely believed to be imaginary.
Read more

Also read:
● And the future of Stan Swamy (Midday.com / Oct 2022)
● And a place Sudhir Dhawale calls home (Midday.com / Aug 2022)
● And Ramesh Gaichor’s patriotic songs (Midday.com / Aug 2022)
● And prayers to Lord for Arun Ferreira (Midday.com / Aug 2022)
● And Vernon’s letters to his son (Midday.com / July 2022)
● And comrades admire Jyoti Jagtap (Midday.com / July 2022)
● And they wait for Mahesh Raut (Midday.com / Jun 2022)
● And the letters of Rona Wilson (Midday.com / June 2022)
● And Allah’s call to Hany Babu (Midday.com / June 2022)
● And Ma died waiting for Surendra (Midday.com / Jun 2022)
● And Ma can’t sing with Sagar (Midday.com / June 2022)
● And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday.com / May 2022)
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday.com / May 2022)

Supreme Court’s suspension of Dr. G.N. Saibaba’s acquittal: ‘Technical grounds are also substantive’, says senior advocate, Mihir Desai

Should anyone be jailed for shouting ‘murdabad,’ says senior advocate Mihir Desai

Conspiracy Allegation Used To Fill Gaps, Speeches Given A Criminal Colour: Gautam Bhatia On Umar Khalid, Jyoti Jagtap Bail Orders

Video: Personal Liberty and the Indian Courts

Desai: Most important aspect is the question of frontal organization. Jyoti was a part of Kabir Kala Manch, which is a frontal organisation but no-one knew that it was a frontal organisation.

Desai: You can’t throw names that this is a frontal organisation unless you come with a clear government notification. What is the basis of holding Kabir Kala Manch as a frontal organisation? Nothing.

Desai: Just the other day the prime minister called narmada bachao andolan as an urban naxal movement – anything can be called…which is okay for politicians but for courts to hold such organisations as frontal organisation is wrong.

Desai: In Jyoti Jagtap’s case, even prosecution admitted that there were around 150 organisations…even retired HC and SC judges included in Elgar Parishad…how are you picking one or two members like that? There is no link. …

Supreme Court directs parties to inspect Gautam Navlakha’s medical reports

SC allows NIA to inspect health reports of activist Gautam Navlakha

Supreme Court Allows Parties To Inspect Hospital Reports On Bhima Koregaon Case Accused Gautam Navlakha’s Health Status

SC to hear on Nov 9 Navlakha’s plea seeking house arrest

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

● Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

Kabir Kala Manch Incited Hatred By Ridiculing Phrases Acche Din, Demonetization In Plays: Bombay HC [read order]

Kabir Kala Manch incited hatred, passion at Elgar Parishad: Bombay High Court

Bombay HC rejects activist Jyoti Jagtap’s bail petition

Bombay High Court rejects bail plea of Jyoti Jagtap

Bombay High Court Denies Bail to Jyoti Jagtap

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Desai: In Jyoti Jagtap’s case, even prosecution admitted that there were around 150 organisations…even retired HC and SC judges included in Elgar Parishad…how are you picking one or two members like that? There is no link.
…