Was the corporate world the reason for the arrest of Sudha Bharadwaj, a social worker who fought for the underprivileged? Was there a conspiracy to implicate him in the Bhima Koregaon case? How was her experience during his three years in prison? How does she view the current times for socio-economic movements? Does she expect times to change? Dr. Mukesh Kumar talking to Sudha Bhardwaj. Watch video
Exposing the machinations of authoritarian power: A profile of Vernon Gonsalves
Profiles of Dissent is a series centered on remarkable voices of dissent and courage across the world. They are writers, poets, activists, human rights defenders and those who have been incarcerated for speaking truth to power.
Vernon Gonsalves is a human rights activist, writer and former professor in several colleges in Mumbai. As an advocate of the rights of marginalized communities, he is a vocal critic of India’s criminal justice system and of the State establishment. In 2007, he was imprisoned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act, but he was released in 2013 after most of the charges made against him were disproved in Court. Read more
Surendra Gadling permitted use of laptop in prison / Prosecution to hand over cloned copies
Elgar Parishad case accused gets nod to use computer in jail
17/03/2022
Times of India / by TNN
The special NIA court on Wednesday allowed lawyer Surendra Gadling an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, to use a computer in jail for an hour, two days a week. Gadling had sought access to his laptop, submitting that he wanted to prepare his defence.
Meanwhile, the prosecution is to hand over the cloned copies of all the pieces of electronic evidence gathered in the case to the accused. Read more
Surendra Gadling permitted use of laptop in prison
16/03/2022
Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter
A special court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act has permitted the use of a laptop in Taloja jail for Bhima Koregaon accused and lawyer Surendra Gadling.
Gadling had sought to be allowed the use of the device as he is appearing in person in the case. Read more
Surendra Gadling
Sudha Bharadwaj
Jyoti Jagtap
Court allows Elgar case accused Gadling to use jail computer
16/03/2022
The Print / by pti
A special NIA court here on Wednesday allowed advocate Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to use computer available in the prison where he is lodged, for an hour two days a week…
Meanwhile, the court allowed a plea of another accused, lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj who is currently on bail, to reside in Mumbai’s suburb of Oshiwara…
The court also granted a petition of Jyoti Jagtap, a co-accused, to receive a set of books. Read more
Gautam Navlakha, in anda cell, permitted daily walk in prison
Bhima-Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha, in anda cell, permitted daily walk in prison
16/03/2022
Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil
In a handwritten plea filed by Navlakha before the court on Dec 30 last year, he had sought that he be allowed an hour of fresh air and sun in the prison premises. He had submitted the plea when he was produced before the court that day along with his co-accused. Read more
Gautam Navlakha allowed 30 min out of anda cell
16/03/2022
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
Gautam Navlakha was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the case.
A special court on Tuesday allowed activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, to be taken outside the anda cell he is lodged in at Taloja Central Prison for 30 minutes. Navlakha in his plea filed last December had said that he is 70 and lodged in the prison as an undertrial. Read more
If we are to do any justice to the Constitutional mandate of equality before law, and the right to legal representation, we must put in place a mechanism to provide competent and effective legal aid to all those who cannot afford it, particularly to those languishing in jail.
was in Byculla Jail, Mumbai, between February 2020 and December 2021. Prior to that, in Yerwada Jail, where I was lodged between November 2018 to February 2020, I had given an application to be permitted to help with legal aid, but that was refused, possibly since I and my co-accused Professor Shoma Sen, were lodged in separate cells in the Phansi Yard. Read more
Lawyer activist Sudha Bhardwaj on the time spent with women in prison
08/03/2022
National Herald / by Sudha Bharadwaj
Legal aid is a right guaranteed by the Constitution but it is virtually nonexistent and ineffective, recalls the lawyer-activist, who spent three years in jail as an accused in the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case. Many inmates cannot follow the language and are not even aware of the name of their lawyer despite having signed the Vakalatnama. The judiciary needs to take a good, hard look at those who are in ‘judicial custody’. Read more
Why was bail granted to Varavara Rao only for 6 months? Bombay High Court
03/03/2022
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
The High Court noted that the February 2021 order granting temporary medical bail to Rao contained strong observations about the inadequate medical facilities at Taloja Jail.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday mused as to why Varavara Rao, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was only granted 6 months of bail despite its strong observations regarding medical conditions at Taloja prison [P Varavara Rao v. State of Maharashtra & Anr]. Read more
Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till March 8
02/03/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The Bombay High Court also asked if the condition of Taloja jail, where Rao will be sent, has improved.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday extended the duration of activist Varavara Rao’s medical bail till March 8, reported PTI. Read more
Interim protection for Varavara Rao extended until March 8
01/03/2022
The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court heard a plea filed by poet and activist P. Varavara Rao – an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case – seeking extension of his interim bail and for being allowed to stay in Hyderabad while on bail. The division bench of Justices S.B. Shukre and G.A. Sanap decided to continue the hearing of arguments on March 8 and has granted interim protection from coercive action to Rao until then. Read more
Gadling had submitted that his son had brought ayurvedic medicines for him in November but the Taloja Jail superintendent did not allow him access to those.
A special court has allowed lawyer Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, access to ayurvedic medicines as well as a table and chair to study for his defence.
Gadling had submitted that his son had brought ayurvedic medicines for him in November but the Taloja Jail superintendent did not allow him access to those. He submitted that the court had, in 2018, permitted him to carry the prescribed medicines to prison. Read more
Also watch: Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling hindi | 11min | 2021
In August, when human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling was released on interim bail for a week, he made a quick visit to the Nagpur sessions court to meet his colleagues and friends. 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. Watch video
3 years in jail have made me stronger, says lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj
After being jailed for 3 years under the UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case, human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was released on bail on December 9, 2021. An IIT alumnus who gave up her US citizenship to work as a trade unionist among tribals in Chhattisgarh, she later qualified as a lawyer and was teaching at the National Law University in Delhi at the time of her arrest.
Bail conditions prevent her from speaking about the case but she speaks to Priyanka Kakodkar about her experiences in jail, the desperate condition of undertrials and life ahead. Read more
Also listen to podcast:
Interview With Sudha Bharadwaj, Bhima Koregaon Accused And Human Rights Lawyer
en | 30:48 min | 2022
Scroll.in / by Smitha Nair
In today’s episode we speak to Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights lawyer and trade unionist who has worked with the most marginalised in Chhattisgarh over the last three decades. Listen to the podcast
Women in and Beyond the Global / by Dan Moshenberg
When Covid hit India, the reports, and for some expectation, were that the State would consider pandemic measures, such as the need for social distancing, and would reduce the incarcerated populations. To no one’s great surprise, that did not happen generally, and in particular it did not happen in women’s jails and prisons. For example, the state of Maharashtra has 60 central and district jails. Of them, one, Byculla Women’s Jail, is the only one dedicated for women and children, but that doesn’t mean the conditions are in any way better. Byculla Women’s Jail has always been an overcrowded hellhole for women and children. Read more
The first person to get bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, Sudha Bharadwaj talks about life in prison, the dire need for better legal aid for prisoners and more. en | 24:33min | 2022 Watch video
