By Bar & Bench (March 30):
Bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay High Court recuses from hearing default bail pleas of Bhima Koregoan accused Mahesh Raut and 3 others.
Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay HC recuses from hearing bail plea of Mahesh Raut, others
30/03/2023
India Legal / by India Legal
Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay High Court on Thursday recused herself from hearing the default bail petitions of Mahesh Raut and three others, who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad Maoists links case of 2018.
Earlier on March 1, the High Court had issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the default bail plea of Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson, who were arrested on June 6, 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Read more
Bombay High Court seeks NIA response to plea by 4 accused for default bail
01/03/2023
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
The four accused have challenged an order of a special NIA court rejecting their default bail pleas. They sought parity with Sudha Bharadwaj, a co-accused who was granted default bail by the High Court in 2021.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea for default bail filed by four persons accused in the Bhima Koregaon case [Mahesh Raut & 4 others v. National Investigation Agency]. Read more
4 accused seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj
02/03/2023
India Today / by Vidya
Four accused in the Elgar Parishad case sought bail in the Bombay High Court on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj, who was granted default bail in 2021 in the same case.
The Bombay High Court has issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sought a reply to the bail petition of four Elgar Parishad accused – Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson. Read more
The remaining 11 continue to languish in jail — Who are they and what is the status of the case against them?
Anti-caste writer Anand Teltumbde, who walked out of jail on Saturday, 26 November, after he was granted bail on merits in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case said:
“I am definitely happy. It has been 30 months that I have been in prison. The sad part, however, is that we had to spend time in jail after being booked in a fake case.”
In the same case, two others, poet Varavara Rao and lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj – were granted bail earlier due to different reasons, while academic Gautam Navlakha was allowed house arrest on health grounds by a 19 November Supreme Court order. Read more
Will the bail granted to Anand Teltumbde help others in the Bhima Koregaon case to get out of jail?
28/11/2022
Scroll.in / by Umang Poddar
This is the first bail in the case granted on merits. But experts say that the case of each Bhima Koregaon accused will have to be considered individually.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld Bombay High Court’s November 18 order granting bail to Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Teltumbde is the first person accused in the matter to be granted bail on the merits of the case. Previously, others in the case have got bail only on medical grounds or due to procedural lapses by the investigating agency. Read more
Supreme Court’s Widely- Praised Bail for Anand Teltumbde should be Followed by Wider Justice in Elgar Case
28/11/2022
Countercurrents.org / by Bharat Dogra
Supreme Court’s firmness in upholding the Bombay High Court’s order granting bail to Anand Teltumbde has been widely appreciated. However, we must also listen to what this 73 year old distinguished scholar activist, coming out after spending 31 months in prison, had to stay regarding the case in which several other distinguished activists have also been implicated: “the sad thing is that this is the fakest case and it put us behind us behind bar for years.”
The reference here was of course to the notorious Elgar Parishad case which has been attracting strong criticism from several human rights and democracy activists during the last few years. Read more
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
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
Court directs NIA to remain present for report on cloned copies
Citing the Supreme Court direction to decide on framing of charges and discharge pleas of the accused within three months, the court also said it will begin hearing the discharge applications of four accused from next week.
The special court hearing the Elgaar Parishad case directed an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to remain present before it for a report on the pending issue of providing cloned copies of electronic devices to all the accused. Read more
Of 16 Arrested Accused in Elgar Parishad Case, One Dead, Two Out on Bail and Rest in Jail
Of 16 Arrested Accused in Elgar Parishad Case, One Dead, Two Out on Bail and Rest in Jail
19/08/2022
The Wire / by pti
With the Supreme Court stipulating that charges in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case be framed within the next three months, the focus has shifted now to the status of the accused.
With the Supreme Court stipulating that charges in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case be framed within the next three months, the focus has shifted now to the status of the accused.
In the case that is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), of the total 16 arrested accused, Jesuit priest Stan Swamy died at a private hospital here last year during judicial custody, while Telugu poet Varavara Rao is currently out on medical bail. Only one accused – Sudha Bharadwaj – is out on regular bail. Read more
Lyrics by Shahir Sagar Gorkhe, sung by Adv Surendra Gadling Watch video
PEN AMERICA, WITH 102 INTERNATIONAL WRITERS AND ARTISTS, CALLS FOR INDIA TO UPHOLD THE FREEDOM TO WRITE AHEAD OF 75TH INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION
15/08/2022
Pen.org / by PEN America
Raises Ongoing Concerns About Fraying of Free Expression and Jailing and Silencing of Writers
(NEW YORK)—As India marks 75 years of independence today, 102 notable U.S. and international writers and creative artists, including Marina Abramovic, Paul Auster, J.M. Coetzee, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Azar Nafisi, and Orhan Pamuk, joined PEN America and PEN International in signing a letter to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, raising concern over the deterioration of free expression and calling for the release of imprisoned writers and dissident and critical voices…
Seven of the eight writers in prison in India during 2021 have been detained in connection with the ongoing Elgar Parishad case, concerning a deadly inter-caste altercation in the village of Bhima Koregaon in 2018. In response, state- and national-level authorities detained a broad swathe of leftist writers and intellectuals, accusing them of inciting the violence and of links to banned groups. Read full statement
INDIA AT 75 | CONTRIBUTORS S – Z
15/08/2022
PEN America / by Siddhartha Deb
…
Siddhartha Deb
I am not allowed to say the name of the person who told me, years ago: “India is not a nation. It is a prisonhouse of all possible nations.” Now this person is incarcerated, but I can’t describe the specifics of their suffering…
I can say the name of Stan Swamy, incarcerated and, eventually, killed by the Indian state on July 5, 2021. I can say his name because his life, if not his memory, is beyond the reach of the prisonhouse. Father Stan, dead at 84 because those running India are terrified of a Jesuit priest whose life was dedicated to working with indigenous people brutalized by Hindutva, the state, and the market. Read more
Our friend Mahesh is spending his 5th Independence Day in the prison with all the other activists in the Elgar Parishad case. They await their freedom. Please spare a thought for each one of them.
51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
A special court that recently rejected the default bail pleas of five of the Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad accused, has said in its reasoned order for doing so, that the ground on which they were seeking bail was already considered and decided by the Bombay High Court and they had no right to raise it in their present pleas.
The applications were filed by Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhavale, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut. Read more
By Bar & Bench (March 30):
by Panther Ajay
