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. Read more
Bombay High Court adjourns bail plea of Anand Teltumbde to February 16
11/02/2022
Indialegallive.com / by India Legal
The Bombay High Court adjourned till February 16, the hearing in the temporary bail application sought by activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, to visit his nonagenarian mother.
A Division Bench of Justice S.S. Shinde and Justice N.R. Borkar on Friday passed the order after Senior Counsel Mihir Desai said the trial court had rejected Teltumbde’s application on the ground that his substantive/regular bail plea was pending before the High Court, before which he can seek relief temporary bail as well. Read more
Prof Anand Teltumbde Seeks Interim Bail To Visit Nonagenarian Mother Following His Brother’s Death In An Encounter
11/02/2022
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
Professor Anand Teltumbde has approached the Bombay High Court seeking interim bail to visit his 92-year-old mother for 14 days following his brother – Milind’s – death in an encounter.
A division bench led by Justice SS Shinde sought details of Teltumbde’s interim application and listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday, February 16. Read more
Anand Teltumbde moves Bombay High Court for temporary bail after brother’s death
11/02/2022
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Teltumbde’s brother, Milind Teltumbde was killed in a gun-battle that took place in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on November 13, 2021.
Anand Teltumbde has approached the Bombay High Court seeking interim bail to visit his mother and family, after the recent death of his brother Milind Teltumbde, also a wanted-accused in the 2018 case.
Milind Teltumbde was killed in a gun-battle that took place in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on November 13, 2021. Read more
Decide Gadling’s case in 15 days: HC to Gadchiroli court
The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court (HC) on Tuesday directed city lawyer Surendra Gadling to approach Gadchiroli special court for seeking bail. He was arrested in an arson case in 2016, where suspected Maoists torched around 80 vehicles at the Surjagarh mining site in the district. Read more
The head of the country’s statutory human rights body said that speedy justice was key to rule of law.
National Human Rights Commission chief Arun Mishra on Friday said that suspects in cases should not be jailed without trial and that there was no room for fake encounters. Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, added that justice was the source of a peaceful society…
As recently as on Wednesday, South African non-profit organisation Civicus put India on a list of countries with “repressed” democratic values. The report had flagged the use of draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, repression of the farmers’ protest and the imposition of curfews in Jammu and Kashmir. Read more
Our friend Mahesh, is spending his fourth year in jail. Without trial! Who is Mahesh though? Why is his story important? And why is he a threat to the powers that are?
Join us for an evening where we will discuss all this and more. Friends, family, colleagues and journalists will talk about Mahesh and why he is still in jail.
We will also be launching a website which documents much of Mahesh’s story through this event.
We miss our friend and we really hope we will see #JusticeForMahesh very soon! Watch video
Twitter: @justice4mahesh
Gadchiroli Sessions Judge S C Khati passed an order in this regard on September 23. Following the Surjagad incident on December 27, 2016, an offence was lodged at the Etapalli police station in Gadchiroli district.
A court in Gadchiroli has rejected the bail application filed by lawyer Surendra Gadling in connection with an incident of arson in December 2016. Read more
Nagpur: Justifying detention of Naxal sympathizers Vara Vara Rao and lawyer Surendra Gadling for their alleged role in a case of arson wherein around 80 vehicles were torched at Surjagarh mining site in Gadchiroli in 2016, Maharashtra government on Tuesday informed that more names of Maoists and their sympathisers could be revealed as the probe progresses.
In an affidavit submitted to the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, the government justified the extension of investigation period and the duo’s detention due to non-receipt of e-mails from Yahoo, the web services provider company. Read more
His crime- raising his voice against illegal mining in Gadhchiroli, reading, understanding and deliberating for the rights of tribals and other communities- in the state of Maharashtra. Read more
Seeking to arrest Navlakha, Maharashtra govt points to Gadchiroli attack
MUMBAI: Opposing the interim protection from arrest granted to activist Gautam Navlakha by the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra government on Thursday invoked the Naxal attack in Gadchiroli, saying he is accused of being a member of “such a group“. Read more
“Mahesh is highly loved and respected in all these villages and one with the people I visited. They treated him as if he were a member of their own house!”
Hailing from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, Mahesh Raut is a young prominent activist working for the rights of Adivasi communities in his district. Born in Lakhapur, a small village in Maharashtra, Mahesh completed his schooling from Gadchiroli and moved to Nagpur for graduation. He later went on to pursue higher education from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. On completing his education he worked as Prime Minister Rural Development Fellow (PMRDF) in Gadchiroli. He has tirelessly advocated for laws like The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act which protect the democratic rights of indigenous communities against unlawful land grabbing by large corporations. Mahesh has consistently worked to protect and promote the rights of the marginalised within a Constitutional framework. On completion of his fellowship, Mahesh decided to continue working with the Adivasi communities in the State.
Mahesh organised and participated in mass movements to abet the cause of social welfare. He was the co-convenor of Visthapan Vidrohi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA) which ghts against the forced displacement of Adivasis and other marginalised people. As a member of VVJVA, Mahesh organised the Tendu leaves workers from Adivasi communities of the region to sell them directly in the market without the involvement of middlemen.
Along with campaigning for the Adivasis of the region, he also joined the Bharat Jan Andolan (BJA), an organisation started by late BD Sharma. Through his work with BJA, Mahesh has been instrumental in organising people for participative decision making in regions a ected by mining projects, including the Surajgarh mining project.
His work against the atrocities of Police and several State authorities led to several cases being led against him. According to a letter drafted by his PMRDF fellows, the State’s crackdown on Mahesh started from 2013 citing his consistent political engagement as one of the reasons for his harassment. His friend and fellow activist Sohini Shoaib, working in Bihar writes about her visit to Gadchiroli, “Mahesh was highly loved and respected in all these villages and one with the people I visited. They treated him as if he were a member of their own house! Some of them even tried to get me to convince him to get married: they thought he worked too hard and did not take care of his health enough. They hoped that nding a partner would help him feel less lonely, help him balance other aspects of life!”
In 2018, Mahesh was picked up by the Pune Police for his alleged involvement in organising the Elgar Parishad and his alleged Maoist links. He was booked under sections of the UAPA and arrested from his residence in Nagpur. Neither was he involved in organising the Elgar Parishad nor did he attend the 31st December events. His arrest is a clear crackdown of the State on Human Rights defenders who are struggling against the State and Corporation nexus. His contributions to promote and uphold Constitutional rights of the marginalised identities have led him to persecution and consequent imprisonment. His incarceration is a standing testament of the State’s repression of Rights’ activists who protect the values of the Constitution which the same State is trampling upon.
Lalsu Nogoti, an elected district council member from Bhamragad in Maharashtra is speaking about the work of Mahesh Raut: “He first came to us as a part of the PMRD [Prime Minister’s Rural Development] fellowship in 2013. He would visit every village with other government officials and meticulously note down grievances and parallelly also research on several village and state-level policies that could come to our rescue. His work in the formative years helped us build our struggles in the coming days.” …
