Try hugging your child with one arm
Political leaders on Saturday shared the stage with relatives and friends of activists imprisoned in terror cases, listening to how bail remained a mirage for years and police prevented the accused even from hugging their children in court.
Besides the release of their loved ones, most of the speakers demanded a repeal of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) which made bail difficult to obtain, and alleged that an “undeclared emergency” had turned the country into a “police state”. Read more
Also read:
Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022) Download report
Press Release: India Behind Bars – The Cost Of Free Speech
by AILAJ (Oct 8, 2022):
AILAJ co-organised ‘India Behind Bars’ press conference in the Press Club of India with
@AISA_tweets and @ryaindia. Hundreds of students, teachers, activists and concerned citizens of Delhi joined us.
By AISA (Oct 8, 2022):
Despite heavy rains, students, citizens of Delhi flooded the Press Club of India in solidarity with different political prisoners incarcerated under acts like UAPA, PSA, NIA etc. #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #IndiaBehindBars
Recording by Millat Times: India Behind Bars: The Cost Of Free Speech (Excerpt)
by Akash (Oct 6, 2022):
To quote Com. Ravi Rai @ravirai2015: “Those behind bars spoke up for us, it’s time for us to speak up for them.” #DelhiPogrom #bhimakoregaon
Join the Press Conference on 8 October at the Press Club. #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #RepealUAPA
by AILAJ_HQ (Oct 5, 2022)
Join us on 8th Oct at 4 p.m. at the Press Club of India, New Delhi for a press conference on India Behind Bars: The Cost of Free Speech where we demand the scrapping of draconian laws and release of political prisoners.
click to enlarge poster
#ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners
click to enlarge posters
Also read:
Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022) Download report
Supreme Court Directs To Take Gautam Navlakha To Hospital Immediately
Supreme Court declines Gautam Navlakha’s plea for house arrest, directs immediate medical treatment
29/09/2022
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
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, denied petitioner Gautam Navlakha’s plea to transfer him from Taloja Central Jail, where he is currently lodged, and place him in house arrest for two weeks to enable him to undergo colonoscopy. The court, however, passed an urgent order directing Navlakha to be immediately taken for a thorough medical treatment. Read more
Gautam Navlakha to be shifted to hospital, Supreme Court orders jail authorities
29/09/2022
Live Law / by Rintu Mariam Biju
While considering the petition filed by Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha seeking transfer to house arrest, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed that he be taken to a hospital of his choice immediately for a thorough medical check-up.
The Court will consider his plea next on October 21. The hospital has been asked to submit a report to the Court based on the check-up. Read more
Gautam Navlakha to be shifted to hospital, Supreme Court orders jail authorities
29/09/2022
Scroll.in. / by Scroll Staff
The court initially read an order allowing the activist to be put under house arrest, but revised it after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the judgement.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Taloja jail authorities to admit activist Gautam Navlakha to a hospital for medical check up and treatment, reported Live Law. The court said he will remain under police custody during his treatment. Read more
Day to day hearing of discharge applications in Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case begins
Day to day hearing of discharge applications in Elgar Parishad case begins
28/09/2022
India Today / by Vidya
A special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai began a day-to-day hearing of four discharge applications filed by the Elgar Parishad. Highlights
▪ Mumbai’s special National Investigation Agency court began a day-to-day hearing in Elgar Parishad case
▪ The court to hear four discharge applications filed by the accused
▪ Three more discharge applications were filed on Tuesday
… Procedurally, courts hear the discharge applications, and if it finds no material against the accused in the charge sheet filed by the investigators, it discharges the accused.
However, if the court finds substantial evidence, the discharge plea gets rejected, and a full-fledged trial ensues. Read more
Bhima Koregaon case trial process begins over four years after case was registered
28/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
An NIA court started hearing a discharge plea filed by Sudhir Dhawale, one of the accused persons.
A Mumbai court on Tuesday started hearing the first of the seven discharge applications filed by accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case, Bar and Bench reported. The hearing marks the beginning of the trial process in the case four years after it was filed in 2018.
The development came after the Supreme Court, on August 19, ordered a National Investigation Agency court to decide on framing charges against the accused persons within three months. Read more
Mumbai Court begins hearing discharge applications of accused
28/09/2022
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
The Court also rejected an application filed by octogenarian P Varavara Rao seeking permission to live in Hyderabad for 3 months in order to conduct cataract surgery.
A Mumbai court on Tuesday began hearing the first of the seven discharge applications filed by the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018.
The hearing on discharge is the first step towards framing of charges, thus, kick-starting the trial in the case which has been pending in the pre-trial stage since 2018.
This development comes in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court in August asking the special court to decide on framing of charges within 3 months. Read more
Three more accused, including activist Navlakha, seek discharge in Elgar case
27/09/2022
The New Indian Express / by pti
While Navlakha and Babu are currently in jail under judicial custody, Bharadwaj is out on bail.
Activists Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bharadwaj and Delhi University professor Hany Babu, all accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, on Tuesday moved discharge applications before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here …
Meanwhile, the court on Tuesday heard the arguments on the discharge plea of another accused, Sudhir Dhawale. The arguments will continue on Wednesday …
The discharge pleas of some other accused – Jyoti Jagtap, Anand Teltumbde and Mahesh Raut – were also pending before the court. Read more
SC Seeks Responses On Gautam Navalkha’s Plea For House Arrest / Setalvad’s Personal Plea
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday sought the responses of the National Investigation Agency and State of Maharashtra in a petition moved by Gautam Navalkha seeking to be placed in house arrest instead of Taloja jail in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.
A bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, while considering the matter, asked the counsel appearing for the petitioner to brief them on the present plea.
… The matter will be next taken up on September 29 Read more
A Home Behind Bars: Teesta Setalvad’s Personal Plea for ‘House Arrest’ for Political Prisoners
28/09/2022
The Wire / by Teesta Setalvad
The activist-writer, herself incarcerated for 63 days this June-September, makes a strong plea for the recognition of political prisoners and the option of house arrest – if at all, they deserve incarceration.
The prison, it is famously said, holds a mirror to society. The conditions within prisons, to stretch this analogy further, reflect the quality of any democracy. By that yardstick, India needs a hard and harsh soul-search. Not only has our collapsing criminal justice system ensured a mockery of reasonably speedy trials but tardy and often skewed (if not biased) investigations and prosecutions have ensured that undertrials languish unforgotten in our jails, for decades. Read more
Gautam Navlakha approaches court again seeking mosquito net in prison
Seeking court’s permission to use a mosquito net !
15/09/2022
madhyamam / by Editorial Desk
Most people will remember that two years ago, an elderly man had to approach the court to seek access to a straw to drink water in prison because he suffered from tremors. Fr Stan Swamy was in jail for leading legal battles for the rights of tribal communities. His punishment included the denial of the basic right to drinking water comfortably… Prominent human rights activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha is a trial prisoner in the same Elgar Parishad case in which Stan Swamy was accused and arrested. Two days ago, Navlakha approached a special NIA court for permission to use mosquito nets in the jail. Read more
Gautam Navlakha approaches court again seeking mosquito net in prison
14/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
He filed the application in court days after another accused person, Vernon Gonsalves, contracted dengue in jail.
In his plea, Navlakha told the court that the area in which the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai is located is prone to dengue and malaria. “The applicant [Navlakha] is very troubled due to the influx of mosquitoes at the prison and is unable to sleep at night even after using mosquito repellents,” the plea added. Read more
Gautam Navlakha approaches court again seeking mosquito net
13/09/2022
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Navlakha’s application filed through lawyers Wahab Khan and Chandni Chawla said that despite these directions passed by the court, Gonsalves contracted dengue and has been unwell since August 31. Gonsalves is currently admitted at state-run J J Hospital.
Days after his co-accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, Vernon Gonsalves, contracted dengue in Taloja Central Jail, activist Gautam Navlakha again approached court seeking a mosquito net. Over the past few months, undertrials at the prison and jail authorities have faced-off over lack of mosquito nets in the prison. In May, jail authorities seized mosquito nets of undertrials stating that the strings and nails used to tie the nets can be a security risk…
Meanwhile, the special court will hear Gonsalves’ application for temporary bail on medical grounds on Friday. The court on Tuesday received a report from JJ Hospital where he is admitted. Read more
NewsClick / by Relatives and Representatives of the BK16; NewsClick
The relatives and representatives of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case have released a statement drawing attention to the deteriorating health of several undertrials – including Vernon Gonsalves – and the brazen negligence of the prison authorities...
Statement: In yet another act of criminal negligence, the prison authorities of Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra, have delayed medical treatment for Vernon Gonsalves, a prominent activist and one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case.
Gonsalves, who is 65 years old, fell ill with fever on August 30th, and even though his condition was steadily deteriorating, he was treated with just paracetamol and antibiotics in jail, for almost a week. After much pleading, he was taken to JJ hospital on September 7 and was given oxygen support. However, instead of continuing his treatment, he was callously brought back to jail where his condition continued to worsen. It is only after his lawyer and wife, Susan Abraham, approached the court and obtained an order, that the prison authorities finally admitted him to the emergency ward of JJ hospital, where he is still under treatment. Read full statement
Video: Custodial Violence, Judicial Negligence and State Apathy
12/09/2022
en │ 52min │2022
By The Polis Project
On 5 October 2020, Atikur Rahman, journalist Siddique Kappan, student Masood Ahmad, and taxi driver Mohammad Alam were arrested in Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh in, India They were on their way to meet the family of a Dalit woman who was raped and murdered by a group of men from the dominant caste in Hathras…
The denial of medical treatment and bail must be seen as a part of a larger pattern of abuse of power directed toward dissenters and political prisoners in India. On 5 July 2021, 84-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights defender Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, India. Watch video
Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails
10/09/2022
By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
Sep 10, 2022
On 8th September Vernon Gonsalves, one of the 16 undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon case lodged in the anda cell of Taloja Central Jail, was diagnosed with dengue and likely pneumonia. Gonsalves age 65, had been suffering from fever since 30th August, but it took an appeal from his lawyer and the intervention of the Court for the Taloja Jail authorities to shift him to JJ Hospital for treatment. The fact that he was immediately put on oxygen support at the hospital, points to the apathy of the Jail authorities regarding the health of prisoners lodged in their custody.
The incident marked the two month anniversary of the Special Court rejecting Gautam Navlakha’s petition for a mosquito net. On 20th May the jail authorities had confiscated the mosquito nets of some inmates housed in the anda cell. Sagar Gorkhe and several others had gone on hunger strike expressing apprehensions about contracting malaria and dengue as Taloja is infested by mosquitos. The abysmal jail facilities and hostility of jail staff added to these fears which have all come true. Read full statement
by The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (Sep 9):
+++ USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper: “We are relieved 65-year-old Dalit rights activist Vernon Gonsalves was finally able to receive medical care after being wrongfully denied it for over a week despite the severe deterioration of his health.” ++
+++ USCIRF Commissioner @StephenSchneck: “Medical neglect of prisoners of conscience like Gonsalves & others arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case continues despite the inhumane death of Father Stan Swamy. Pre-trial detention cannot be a de facto death sentence.” ++
Documents seized from Gautam Navlakha show link between him and Elgar Parishad case: NIA court
07/09/2022
Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel
In a detailed order denying bail to activist Gautam Navlakha (69) in the Elgar Parishad case, the special NIA court said the documents alleged to have been seized from his possession showed a nexus between him with the case.
In the five-page order, special judge Rajesh J Katariya said it was contended by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that Navlakha was found in possession of incriminating documents related to CPI (Maoist). Read more
Offence serious, ample evidence: Court rejects bail plea of activist in Elgar Parishad case
07/09/2022
India Today / by Vidya
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court rejected the bail application of journalist-activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested in April 2020, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.
… Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty and advocate Vishal Goutham had submitted that “Navlakha is a member of CPI (Maoist) and he was in possession of incriminating documents related to CPI (Maoist), accessible exclusively to party members. He was actively involved in the activities of ‘Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) and used to receive group emails.” Read more
A Mumbai Court today rejected the regular bail application filed by Delhi activist Gautam Navlakha who is one of the accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.
Navlakha, who is human rights activist and former secretary of People’s Union for Democratic Rights, was arrested in August 2018, but was initially placed under house arrest. Read more
Bhima Koregaon case: Gautam Navlakha’s bail plea rejected by special NIA court
05/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The 71-year-old activist was arrested on August 28, 2018 for his alleged involvement in the case.
A special National Investigation Agency court on Monday rejected a bail application filed by activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case, PTI reported.
Special Judge Rajesh J Katariya rejected his plea. The detailed order has not been made public yet. Read more
Special NIA Court Rejects Gautam Navlakha’s Bail Plea
05/09/2022
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
The 70-year-old activist has additionally appealed to the Supreme Court against a Bombay HC order dismissing his plea to allow him to be in house arrest instead of at Taloja prison.
A special NIA court in Mumbai on Monday, September 5, rejected the bail plea of activist Gautam Navlakha, in jail since 2018 over what the agency believes is his connection with the Elgar Parishad case. Read more
Justice S Ravindra Bhat recuses from hearing plea by Gautam Navlakha
Justice S Ravindra Bhat recuses from hearing plea by Gautam Navlakha
29/08/2022
Bar & Bench / by Debayan Roy
CJI UU Lalit said that the matter might be listed before a bench headed by Justice KM Joseph.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat of the Supreme Court on Monday recused from hearing a plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navalakha seeking that he be placed under house arrest instead of being lodged in jail [Gautam Navlakha vs National Investigation Agency and anr]. Read more
SC judge recuses himself from hearing plea by activist Gautam Navlakha
29/08/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The activist has demanded that he should be placed under house arrest instead of being lodged in prison.
A Supreme Court judge on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by jailed activist Gautam Navlakha demanding that he should be placed under house arrest, Bar and Bench reported. Read more
Gautam Navlakha appeal to be heard by Supreme Court on Monday
28/08/2022
Bar & Bench / by Bar & Bench
… Navlakha has moved the top court against Bombay High Court judgment dismissing his plea to be transferred from Taloja Prison and placed under house arrest instead.
Navlakha, who is human rights activist and former Secretary of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, was arrested in August 2018, but was initially placed under house arrest. Read more
