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Tag: Arun Ferreira

Jail Authorities Are Blocking Letters From Elgar Parishad Arrested to Their Loved Ones

Jail Authorities Are Blocking Letters From Elgar Parishad Arrested to Their Loved Ones

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

After Father Stan Swamy’s death in July, Sudhir Dhawale penned an emotional letter. But Taloja jail authorities decided nobody should read it.
When 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy passed away on July 5, one of his co-accused in the Elgar Parishad case, Sudhir Dhawale, penned an emotional poem. Dhawale, a writer and anti-caste activist from Mumbai who is currently jailed at the Taloja central prison, wrote an eight-page poem describing his first meeting with Swamy, their interactions in jail and Swamy’s contribution to the tribal rights movement in Jharkhand. He titled the poem Pathalgadicha Father or the ‘Father of Pathalgadi’.
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NIA court reject medical bail pleas of four accused / Court reject application seeking copy of draft charges

NIA court reject medical bail pleas of four accused / Court reject application seeking copy of draft charges

NIA Court refuses medical bail to four Bhima Koregaon accused; citing past precedent, two other accused activists seek laptops in jail

22/09/2021

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde had applied for bail.
On Tuesday, 21 September 2021, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai rejected the bail applications filed on behalf of four of the senior citizens accused in the Bhima Koregaon case…
Notably, three of the Bhima Koregaon accused – Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Surendra Gadling – were also produced in-person at the special NIA court in Mumbai. The three argued before court by themselves.
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NIA Court rejects medical bail to Shoma Sen

22/09/2021

Sabrang / by Sabrang

She was arrested in June 2018, and has been in jail since then, with no relief.
… Further, as per media reports, the court has also rejected the applications filed by co-accused Sudha Bharadwaj, Hany Babu and Gautam Navlakha for a copy of the draft charges filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) that has reportedly submitted a list of seventeen draft (proposed) charges against the 15 accused, including the serious charge of waging a war against the country, which is punishable with death or imprisonment for life (section 121 of the Indian Penal Code)…
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Special NIA Court Rejects Professor Shoma Sen’s Interim Medical Bail Plea In Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case

22/09/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

A special NIA court on Tuesday refused interim medical bail to Shoma Sen, a former professor at Nagpur University, who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad caste violence case in 2018…
Meanwhile, the court has extended co-accused researcher Rona Wilson’s interim bail by three days…
Lastly, the court rejected an application filed by accused Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu and Sudha Bharadwaj seeking a copy of draft charges submitted by NIA.
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NIA court reject medical bail pleas of four Bhima-Koregaon case accused

21/09/2021

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday rejected the medical bail applications filed by senior citizens Shoma Sen, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves.
Special Judge D.E. Kothalikar rejected the pleas by relying on recommendations from the high-powered committee set up to decongest prisons owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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NIA court to pass order on bail pleas of accused Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves

NIA court to pass order on bail pleas of accused Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves

NIA court to pass order on bail pleas of accused Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves

07/09/2021

India Today / by Vidya

A special NIA court will pass an order on the bail pleas of the accused Rona Wilson and Vernon Gonsalves in connection to the Elgar-Parishad case.
A special NIA court in Mumbai will be passing an order on the interim bail pleas of accused Rona Wilson and co-accused Vernon Gonsalves in the Elgar Parishad case, on Tuesday.
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NIA opposes activist Rona Wilson’s plea to attend mass after his father’s death

06/09/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The agency claimed that the activist was creating grounds for his release as his father’s last rites had already been performed.
The National Investigation Agency on Monday opposed a petition filed by activist Rona Wilson, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, for interim bail to attend a ceremonial mass after his father’s death, PTI reported.
The agency said that Wilson’s family members could perform the rituals in his absence, The Indian Express reported.
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The Legal Battle of Bhima Koregaon: The story so far

The Legal Battle of Bhima Koregaon: The story so far

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The Special NIA Court has listed the pending applications on September 6, 2021
On July 5, 2021, 83-year-old activist and priest Father Stan Swamy passed away in a Mumbai private hospital while in judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the riots that took place in Bhima Koregaon post the Elgar Parishad event held on January 2018.
His death highlighted the state of undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon case, most of whom have been awaiting trial for the past three years.
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Bombay High Court Reserves Order On Default Bail Plea Of Eight Accused In Bhima Koregaon

Bombay High Court Reserves Order On Default Bail Plea Of Eight Accused In Bhima Koregaon

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Bombay High Court Reserves Order On Default Bail Plea Of Eight Accused In Bhima Koregaon

02/09/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved for orders a petition filed by eight accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence case challenging cognisance of the charge sheet by a sessions judge in Pune and seeking default bail.
The accused have filed the appeal against the Sessions court’s order rejecting the default bail application under Section 167(2) of the Code of of Criminal Procedure read with Section 43-D (2) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
… The HC is likely to pronounce its judgement along a similar plea made co-accused Sudha Bharadwaj, on which order was reserved on August 4.
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HC reserves order on plea by eight accused

01/09/2021

Hindustan Times / by KAY Dodhiya

The Bombay high court reserved its orders in the petition filed by the eight Elgar Parishad accused who challenged the cognizance taken by the sessions judge of the charge sheet filed by Pune Police in November 2018.
The counsel for the accused argued that as the sessions judge had passed orders and not the special NIA court or a magistrate court as stipulated by the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) under which the accused were booked, the orders passed by the sessions judge were not valid and they were eligible for default bail.
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Bombay HC reserves verdict in plea by 8 accused challenging cognizance taken by Pune Sessions Judge

01/09/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The eight accused who have moved the Court are Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict in the plea filed by eight of sixteen accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case challenging the decision of the Pune Sessions Judge to take cognizance of chargesheet against them.
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Also read:
● 8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail (Bar & Bench, Aug 23)
● Is Cognizance By Pune Sessions Court In Bhima Koregaon Case Void? Bombay High Court Reserves Judgment In Sudha Bharadwaj’s Plea For Default Bail (Live Law, Aug 4)

Bhima Koregaon accused languishing in jail for 3 years

Bhima Koregaon accused languishing in jail for 3 years

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Plea challenging denial of bail being heard in Bombay HC
Saturday marks three years since trade unionist and human rights advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, columnist and activist Vernon Gonsalves, cartoonist and activist Arun Ferreira and poet and activist Varavara Rao were arrested by the Pune police some seven months after a mob attacked Dalits and Bahujans on January 1, 2018.
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by CIVICUS (Aug 28):
#India: Today marks exactly 3 years since human rights lawyer & activist Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested & subsequently detained under the anti-terror UAPA law on fabricated charges.
The state must #FreeSudhaBharadwaj immediately
http://web.civicus.org/Sudha | #StandAsMyWitness

10 prisoners accuse ex-jail superintendent of ‘political censorship’

10 prisoners accuse ex-jail superintendent of ‘political censorship’

Prisoners accuse ex-jail superintendent of ‘political censorship’

27/08/2021

Sabrang / by Sabrangindia

The former Taloja Jail Superintendent Kaustubh Kurlekar has been allegedly saving copies of the letter exchanged between the accused and their family and lawyers
Ten activists, who have been falsely implicated in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, have written to the Home Minister of Maharashtra, alleging that Taloja Central Jail’s former Superintendent Kaustubh Kurlekar has been taking scans and saving copies of the letters exchanged between them and their family and advocates.
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10 Elgaar Parishad accused allege ‘political censorship’ by jail authorities

27/08/2021

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Kaustubh Kurlekar of Taloja jail scans and saves letters, they have said in a letter to State Home Minister
Ten accused in the Elgar Parishad case have written a letter to Home Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday alleging that Taloja Central Jail’s Superintendent Kaustubh Kurlekar scans and saves copies of letters written by them to their family and advocates.
The letter written on Thursday has been signed by Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor.
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8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail

8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail

Sessions court had no power to take cognisance of pleas: Accused in Elgar Parishad case seek default bail

24/08/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The lawyer for the accused submitted that as the orders of remand, authorising custody were ‘illegally’ passed by the sessions judge and the same could not be sustained, they may be released on default bail.
Eight accused in the Elgar Parishad case, while challenging the September 2019 order of the Pune Sessions court rejecting their default bail pleas, told the Bombay High Court that persons booked for scheduled offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) had to be produced before special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court and the sessions judge had no power to take cognisance of their pleas.
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8 accused move Bombay HC; claim chargesheet filed in haste only to defeat their right of bail

23/08/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The eight accused who have moved the Court are Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
Eight accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case have moved the Bombay High Court challenging the decision of the Pune Sessions Judge to take cognizance of chargesheet against them and to quash the criminal proceedings (Sudhir Dhawale & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.).
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Also read: Is Cognizance By Pune Sessions Court In Bhima Koregaon Case Void? Bombay High Court Reserves Judgment In Sudha Bharadwaj’s Plea For Default Bail (Live Law, Aug 4)

How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison

How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison

Scroll.in / by Arun Ferreira

Although we received news by late evening on October 8, 2020, of Father Stan Swamy’s arrest, we were quite shocked to see him the next morning in the adjourning barrack conversing with inmates in his impeccable Hindi.
I was at that time lodged in a cell at the prison hospital with my co- accused Varavara Rao (or VV) and Vernon Gonsalves. It was part of our daily routine for VV and I to do a couple of rounds in his wheelchair before the morning breakfast. The three of us had assumed that the National Investigation Agency would want Stan’s custodial interrogation and hence it would not be until a couple of days before he would be sent to judicial custody i.e. Prison.
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Mary Lawlor: Inhumane prison conditions for Bhima Koregaon Human Rights Defenders

Mary Lawlor: Inhumane prison conditions for Bhima Koregaon Human Rights Defenders

By Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

On 11 June 2021, I wrote a letter jointly with two other UN experts on the alleged inhumane prison conditions and deteriorating condition of 15 human rights defenders, as well as Varavara Rao who was granted medical bail.
Of pressing concern was the inhumane prison conditions and deteriorating health of the human rights defenders. The death of Fr. Stan Swamy shortly after this communication was written demonstrate the severity of the conditions in which the human rights defenders are being held. It is haunting to now read how Fr. Swamy’s requests to be transferred to hospital to receive treatment were initially denied repeatedly.
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