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And they wait for Mahesh Raut

And they wait for Mahesh Raut

Midday.com / by Ajaz Ashraf

Every moment of joy has each family member of the youngest of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case murmur “wish you were here,” the title of Pink Floyd’s haunting song on aching absences.
A lady in a house at Wadsa, Gadchiroli district, rages and switches off the television every time Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears on it. The lady is an aunt of Mahesh Raut, who, at 34, is the youngest of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case and has been languishing in prison since his arrest on June 6, 2018. That house at Wadsa, where a family of 14 children and adults live, is home to Mahesh.
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Also read:
● And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday / May 2022)
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday / May 2022)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)

And he waits for Shoma Sen

And he waits for Shoma Sen

Midday / by Ajaz Ashraf

Falling in love while trying to affect a change in the society, as their hearts beat for adivasis and dalits, the couple has now spent in jail nine out of 31 years of their life together.
I called up Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya, husband of Shoma Sen, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, on May 9, with a request: could he tell me their story—she languishing in jail and he alone outside? He said it was on this day in 1991 that Shoma and he were married. 
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Also read:
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday / May 2022)

PUCL welcomes the initial step towards the complete repeal of the colonial law of Sedition

PUCL welcomes the initial step towards the complete repeal of the colonial law of Sedition

PUCL welcomes the initial step towards the complete repeal of the colonial law of Sedition

12/05/2022

By Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Press release
The Peoples Union for Civil Liberties welcomes the order of the Supreme Court dated 11.05.22 in the petition filed by Army veteran Major-General SG Vombatkere (Retired) as well as PUCL and a range of other petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.  In its petition, the PUCL had pleaded that owing to the development of constitutional law, the law of sedition of the colonial era had no place; it was overbroad, vague, arbitrary, violating the sacrosanct freedom of speech and expression, hence it was imperative to strike it down as it was unconstitutional.
Read full statement

Will SC’s Sedition Order Mean Relief for Delhi Riots, Bhima Koregaon Accused?

12/05/2022

The Quint / by Mekhala Saran

Simply put: the Supreme Court’s order in the pleas challenging the sedition law is unlikely to do so. Here’s why…
“I have every right to criticise the government. BJP-RSS do not constitute country. They do not constitute nation. They have taken a jibe against Modi, against his policies. How is this sedition?” Advocate Nihalsingh Rathod, appearing for Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkha — two of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case — had told a special court in November 2021.
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Suspending sedition: No cause for celebration

13/05/2022

Deccan Herald / by Shikha Mukerjee

There really is no cause for celebration after the conditional suspension of the infamous Section 124 A, otherwise known as the Sedition Act of 1870. The statute books have so many other equally infamous laws, starting with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act amended and strengthened in 2019, and the 2019 expansion of the National Investigation Agency Act that dumping a “colonial-era” law and claims to be respectful of human rights and liberties is a phoney gesture.
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Sedition law: Lawyers and free speech activists welcome SC order / A Decade of Darkness

Sedition law: Lawyers and free speech activists welcome SC order / A Decade of Darkness


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Sedition law: Lawyers and free speech activists welcome SC order

12/05/2022

The Economic Times / by Vasudha Venugopal

Nagpur-based lawyer Nihalsingh Rathod, who represents many accused in the Elgar Parishad case said the legislature should have re-examined the relevance of sedition a long time ago. The Supreme Court’s interim order was an important step in rights jurisprudence, he said.
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KEEP THE SEDITION LAW IN ABEYANCE: SUPREME COURT RULES IN A HISTORIC ORDER [read order]

11/05/2022

Live Law / by Livelaw News Network

In a historic development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the 152-year old sedition law under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code should be effectively kept in abeyance till the Union Government reconsiders the provision.
In an interim order, the Court urged the Centre and the State governments to refrain from registering any FIRs under the said provision while it was under re-consideration.
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A Decade of Darkness: Our New Database Reveals How A Law Discarded By Most Democracies Is Misused In India

04/02/2022

Article 14 / by Lubhyathi Rangarajan

For 151 years, Indians expressing their right to free speech and expression have faced the prospect of being accused of sedition: ‘showing disaffection’ towards the State under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. Our new database counts 13,000 people charged with sedition between 2010-2021 and provides unprecedented insight into India’s use of a law discarded by most democracies. Its use has risen inexorably over the last decade, most recently against public protests, dissent, social-media posts, criticism of the government and even over cricket results.
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Also read:
● Explainer: How the Sedition Law Has Been Used in the Modi Era (The Wire / Mai 2022)

Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry calls for Elgaar Parishad video

Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry calls for Elgaar Parishad video

Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry calls for Elgaar Parishad video

09/02/2022

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

The two-member commission headed by retired justice J N Patel is probing the cause of the violence in the Koregaon Bhima area of the Pune district on January 1, 2018, in which one person had died and several others were left injured.
The Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has asked special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray to obtain and submit the video of the Elgaar Parishad held in Pune in December 2017.
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Podcast: Disha Wadekar talks about Ambedkarite history in Pune City, Bhima Koregaon in 2018 …

09/02/2022

By Anurag Minus Verma Podcast


en | 1h39min | 2022
Listen to the podcast

Anurag Minus Verma Podcast in Conversation with Disha Wadekar (#44 Disha Wadekar)
Disha is an advocate practicing in the Supreme Court. She has also headed a legal resource centre and is co-founder of CEDE.

Topics Discussed in the podcast: Rarely discussed Ambedkarite history about Pune City; What happened at the Bhim Koregaon in 2018; Vimukta identity and criminal act; Delta Meghwal rape case and struggle of the family for justice; Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment (CEDE), a network of lawyers, law firms, judges, and other organizations and individuals, who are committed to reforming the Indian legal profession.

Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: Is Milind Ekbote Being Protected? (rediff.com / Feb 2022)
● Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots (Live Law / Oct 2021)

Ten recusals in Bhima Koregaon raises the question: Should judges disclose reasons for withdrawal?

Ten recusals in Bhima Koregaon raises the question: Should judges disclose reasons for withdrawal?

Scroll.in / by Umang Poddar

Would disclosing reasons reduce the controversy around mass recusals?
On April 19, Justice Sadhana Jadhav of the Bombay High Court recused herself from hearing petitions related to the Bhima Koregaon case. She was part of a two-judge bench that was hearing petitions relating to the quashing of cases against activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen and the bail plea of advocate Surendra Gadling, amongst other petitions.
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And she waits for Gautam Navlakha

And she waits for Gautam Navlakha

mid-day.com / by Ajaz Ashraf

As draconian UAPA ensures freedom eludes the 69-year-old rights activist even after 2 years, Sahba Husain, his partner of 26 years, suffers immensely but keeps the flame of love and resistance burning.
Writer Sahba Husain rattles out from memory all the dates of twists and turns during her ongoing struggle to keep the flame of love and resistance burning. She remembers the date (August 28, 2018) when the Pune Police raided her home to arrest her partner and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Irony of Sharad Pawar’s support for Bhima Koregaon accused

Irony of Sharad Pawar’s support for Bhima Koregaon accused

Irony of Sharad Pawar’s support for Bhima Koregaon accused

09/05/2022

Deccan Herald / by Vidya

That Pawar has done nothing is a testimony to the clout wielded in Maharashtra politics by ‘Bhide Guruji’
It took Delhi-based writer-activist Gautam Navlakha 75 days to get court permission to walk in the open in Taloja Jail and get the fresh air he’s deprived of in the high-security anda cell he’s been consigned to since October. Seventy-year-old Navlakha, one of 16 intellectuals arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been denied a chair despite developing back pain during his two-year-long incarceration. Last month, the Bombay High Court rejected his plea for house arrest and instead directed the Taloja Jail authorities to provide him with whatever medical care he needed.
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Why Sharad Pawar Is Against The Bhima Koregaon 16’s Arrests

06/05/2022

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

Despite Sharad Pawar’s assertion, the Maharashtra government has done nothing to ease the suffering of the Bhima Koregaon 16, who have been denied their basic rights to health and to communication with their families while in jail.
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‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’

‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’


Shoma Sen. Pic: Koel Sen @ fb

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

‘The only way to kill time in prison is to read and she can’t even do that properly any more.’
‘Her knees, too, are in terrible shape. I could see how she was trying to hide her pain every time she got up from the bench where she was seated.’
Koel Sen, her daughter, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar how this “travesty of justice” has taken a huge toll on the family.
Three years, 11 months to the day.
That’s how long Professor Shoma Sen, the former head of the English literature department at Nagpur University — she was suspended after her arrest — has been in prison for her alleged involvement in the *Bhima Koregaon case.
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Koregaon Bhima and Elgar Parishad are two different episodes: Sharad Pawar

Koregaon Bhima and Elgar Parishad are two different episodes: Sharad Pawar

‘Speech within the ambit of the Constitution not anti-national’: Sharad Pawar tells Bhima Koregaon probe panel

06/05/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

The NCP chief dodged questions on the role of Hindutva leaders, Shambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote.
The Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, on Thursday, called upon Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Pawar to depose as a witness before the commission.
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Speeches within ambit of Constitution not anti-national: Sharad Pawar to Bhima Koregaon Commission

05/05/2022

Bar & Bench / by Narsi Benwal

During his deposition, Pawar also stated that it is necessary for a political leader to take precautions to ensure that his address to people is not inflammatory resulting in disturbance to law and order and peace.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Member of Rajya Sabha Sharad Pawar on Thursday told the Bhima Koregaon Commission of Inquiry that persons making speeches within the ambit of the Constitution are not anti-national.
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Koregaon Bhima and Elgar Parishad are two different episodes: Sharad Pawar

05/05/2022

The Times of India / by Swati Dshpande

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Member of Parliament (MP) of Rajya Sabha on Monday deposed before the Koregaon Bhima commission of inquiry and said “Koregaon Bhima and Elgar Parishad are two different episodes.
In respect of cases filed by the Police relating to Elgar Parishad, I have stated that it was not correct/proper on the part of Police to have filed cases against certain persons who were not present at the Elgar Parishad held on 31st December, 2017 at Shanivarwada, Pune).”
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