In November 2021, the Bombay High Court allowed Father (Dr) Frazer Mascarenhas, SJ, to approach the court to clear the name of Father Stan Swamy, the oldest of the 16 Bhima Koregaon accused, who died in hospital in July 2021 …
Known to speak freely and stand by his principles, Father Frazer, who is now the parish priest at a Mumbai church, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar, “It seems to be a culture now. Anybody dissenting will be treated in this manner. No human rights… It is not limited to any one political party. The evidence shows that a group of political parties seem to be using this in an extensive and deliberate manner.”
Court Issues Notice in Surendra Gadling’s Contempt Plea Against Prison Officials
17/01/2023
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
The human rights lawyer, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, claims that despite favourable court orders, the prison officials have blocked his access to hospitals, worsening his health condition further.
Surendra Gadling, a human rights lawyer and an arrested accused in the Elgar Parishad case, has been ailing with multiple health issues, including serious cardiac issues and psychiatric disorders. Over the past year, he has made multiple applications before the court seeking adequate medical care. And despite favourable court orders, the prison officials have allegedly blocked his access to hospitals, worsening his health condition further. Read more
Court issues notice to Taloja jail superintent for not taking Surendra Gadling to hospital
14/01/2023
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
Although the court had directed that Mr. Gadling be referred to JJ Hospital, and he was due to recieve psychiatric treatment follow-up on February 20, 2022, he was not taken to hospital until June 6, he alleged
A sessions court at Gadchiroli has issued a notice to the Superintendent and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Taloja Central Jail, with regards to their failure to take advocate Surendra Gadling to hospital last year, even three months after being directed to do so by the court. Mr. Gadling is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case of 2018. Read more
Also watch:
● Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling
hindi | 11min | 2021
The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaichor
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. Watch video
Court asks Taloja jail authorities again to take steps to keep prison mosquito-free
Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaychor. Poster by #bakeryprasad
Court asks Taloja jail to follow order on tackling mosquito menace
22/12/2022
Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter
A special court has directed Taloja jail authorities to conduct periodic fumigation, spray insecticides and take necessary precautions to keep the jail premises free of mosquitoes.
A special court has directed Taloja jail authorities to conduct periodic fumigation, spray insecticides and take necessary precautions to keep the jail premises free of mosquitoes. The direction came in response to a plea by Bhima-Koregaon case accused Sagar Gorkhe who sought a mosquito net and an explanation by jail authorities for dereliction of duty in not following the court’s July order giving directions to tackle the mosquito menace. Read more
Court asks Taloja jail authorities again to take steps to keep prison mosquito-free
22/12/2022
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
Rejects plea by Elgaar Parishad accused asking for mosquito net.
In a recent order, a special court again directed Taloja jail authorities to take necessary steps to keep the prison premises mosquito free. The court was responding to a plea by Sagar Gorkhe, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case. However, the court did not allow his plea for a mosquito net. Read more
The country’s jails teem with poor and marginalised people detained without justification.
Since there was no one to furnish a Rs.30,000 surety bond, Jai Parkash, 47, spent over 22 years in judicial custody without a trial. On November 21, Parkash, a stout man with swollen hands and a puffy face, was finally released on bail as part of the remissions granted under “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.
… Quoting the Prison Statistics India report, Raghavan said: “Nearly 85 to 90 per cent of prisoners are SCs, STs, OBCs and Muslims. There is no data available on their socio-economic background, but our work with prison populations in Maharashtra shows that more than 60 per cent have a monthly family income less than Rs. 10,000. Read more
● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022
en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video
● Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling
By The Wire 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
Eminent trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj was released on 9 December 2021 after being in jail for three years. She is not allowed to go out of Mumbai. How has this one year been for her, Chhattisgarh has been the field of work, the regret of not being able to go there, what were her experiences in jail, what were the challenges of being a trade union leader as a woman. Workers’ Unity talked to him in detail on these subjects. Watch video
● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022
en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video
● Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism
Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Pictures credit: PUCL
Cover Design / Layout: Vinay Jain
Paperback: 316 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here: Sudha_Bharadwaj_speaks (2,1 MB)
Prisoners of conscience / Court directs top cop to look into the mosquito menace in Taloja prison
Is it just their relentless opposition to State policies that gets the NIA’s goat, or is it also their privileged background?
Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage. Sometimes they do, even for the most creative minds.
Take Maharashtra’s Taloja Jail, on the outskirts of Mumbai. For the last almost three years, it’s been home to some of the country’s most valuable public intellectuals, and also the site of their steady deterioration. The Bhima Koregaon trial is yet to begin, but the 16 accused have already been punished, by the NIA that’s handling their case and the jail authorities. Read more
Court directs top cop to look into the mosquito menace in Taloja prison
16/11/22
Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter
In his plea made on Tuesday, he said that there is no reply from the jail’s superintendent despite the court’s direction to the authority to file one.
Following an application by civil rights activist and accused in Bhima-Koregaon case, Anand Teltumbde, on Tuesday, a special court has directed the Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG, Prisons) to look into the mosquito menace in Taloja prison as the jail superintendent has not complied with previous orders to take precautions to control the situation despite repeated directions. Read more
Explainer: As activist Gautam Navlakha is allowed house arrest, what does this actually involve?
11/11/2022
Scroll.in / by Umang Poddar
When allowing him to leave Taloja jail for house detention, the Supreme Court on Thursday listed stringent conditions he would have to follow.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who has been in Taloja jail since April 2020 in the Bhima Koregaon case, to be placed under house arrest for a month. The activist, who is 70 years old, said that he was suffering from various health ailments and had asked to be shifted out of jail.
While ordering house arrests, courts have the power to impose conditions as they deem fit, so that the trial is not hampered. In a 2021 case, the Supreme Court ruled that house arrests can also be used as a form of detention. Read more
Gautam Navlakha
Varavara Rao
Sudha Bharadwaj
Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon accused struggle to find house in city
11/11/2022
Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah and Gautam S Mengle
Getting a house in and around the city has been a challenge – both due to financial reasons as well as the fact that they were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and charged under sections of the UAPA for alleged Naxalite links
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon violence case accused Gautam Navlakha for a month’s house arrest on account of his old age and ill health. Read more
4 years, 16 arrests and no framing of charges / Treatment, straw, books … things BK16 have asked courts for
4 years, 16 arrests and no framing of charges: The many twist and turns of Elgaar Parishad case
10/11/2022
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
With trial yet to begin, the Supreme Court recently asked the NIA court to expedite framing of charges in 2018 case
Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, was allowed on Thursday to be shifted to house arrest after he filed a plea in the Supreme Court considering his health.
On August 18, the Supreme Court directed the special court in Mumbai conducting the trial in the Elgaar Parishad case to decide on framing of charges and discharge pleas of the accused within three months. The delay in the framing of charges has meant that four years after the Pune Police made nine arrests and the National Investigation Agency made seven arrests in the case, the trial in the 2018 case is yet to begin. Read more
Treatment, straw, books… things Bhima Koregaon accused have asked courts for
10/11/2022
The New India Express / by pti
In December 2020, Navlakha’s partner Sahba Husain said the former’s spectacles were stolen in jail and when his family sent him a new pair, the jail authorities refused to accept them.
The Supreme Court order permitting jailed activist Gautam Navlakha to be kept under house arrest for a month has brought to the fore several applications filed by the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case lamenting lack of facilities in jail and denial of access to the same.
Besides seeking medical treatment, the accused in the case have time and again approached courts for permission to get books, chairs, drinking straws, spectacles and mosquito nets inside the prison have asked courts for. Read more
Supreme Court’s Concerns Regarding the Health of Gautam Navlakha Are Widely Shared
10/11/2022
Countercurrrents / by Bharat Dogra
The concerns expressed by a Supreme Court Bench on November 9 regarding the health of an elderly political prisoner Gautam Navlakha have been widely appreciated in the country. Justice Hrishikesh Roy found it disturbing that hardly any progress had been made since the charge-sheet against him was filed in October 2020 ( over two years ago). Justice K.M. Joseph stated, “ He is a 70 year old man. He is not in the best of health. We don’t know how long he will live.” Read more
Gautam Navlakha Shifted To House Arrest, Who Are The Other Bhima-Koregaon Accused?
10/11/2022
Outlook India / by Outlook Web Desk
Gautam Navlakha, 70, has been in custody since April 14, 2020, and was lodged in Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case.
Even as activists, civil society members friends and family of jailed activist Gautam Navlakha celebrated the Supreme Court order to allow his plea to be placed on house arrest, many of the 15 activists, teachers and social workers accused and arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case continue to languish in jail. Read more
When she was released on conditional bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, for which she spent over three years in jail, one of the first things Sudha Bharadwaj asked her daughter to send from her home in Bilaspur were her black coat and her lawyer’s sanad.
Her black lawyer’s coat hangs from the back of her chair, the computer on the table has multiple windows open – the websites of various courts in Maharashtra – and a stack of handwritten letters await her attention. Read more (for HT subscribers only)
● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022
en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video
● Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism
Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Pictures credit: PUCL
Cover Design / Layout: Vinay Jain
Paperback: 316 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here: Sudha_Bharadwaj_speaks (2,1 MB)
Securing the right to health of political prisoners
It is time that the right to health becomes a reality, in letter and spirit to every person, irrespective of their incarceration status. This will have to be done through a wide scale, public health campaign, and rapid recruitment of qualified doctors with training in evidence-based medicine that can provide adequate care to prisoners.
It has been good law in India since Bandhua Mukti Morcha versus Union of India (1983) that the right to health is a fundamental part of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution…
However, what happens when you are a political prisoner in India? These rights are vitiated, and the process becomes the punishment. Read more
● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022
en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video
