Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor. Poster by #bakeryprasad
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
As per the Prison Statistics of India, 2021, while nearly 40 per cent of the prison population has studied below Class 10, 24 per cent have passed Class 10 but are below graduation.
Among thousands of aspirants who appeared for the Common Entrance Test (CET) for law held in Maharashtra on Wednesday was 35-year-old Sagar Gorkhe, who is in judicial custody in Taloja Central Jail in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case. Read more
“The applicant shall be given a waiver for the escort charges. The applicant shall not misuse the permission granted to the applicant vide this order,” the court noted.
A special court in Mumbai on Friday allowed Elgaar Parishad case accused Sagar Gorkhe to attend a Law entrance exam. Read more
Sagar Gorkhe seeks permission to appear for law entrance test
The accused is accused by the prosecution to be a member of Kabir Kala Manch, which it claims is a frontal organisation of the banned terror outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Cultural activist Sagar Gorkhe has moved a special court conducting the Bhima-Koregaon case in which he is an accused, the permission to appear for the common entrance test for a three-year law course. Read more
Also read/watch:
● Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)
hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020
Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
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 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
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
Vernon Gonsalves is recovering, not pressing for medical bail, says his wife
17/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
Susan Abraham said the counsel sought access to his medical records and asked the authorities to not discharge the activist from the hospital prematurely.
Activist Vernon Gonsalves’ wife on Monday said that he is recovering at the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai and they are not pressing for his medical bail at the moment. Read more
Vernon Gonsalves bail plea to be heard on September 16
14/09/2022
The Hindu / by Special Correspondent
He was admitted to the hospital on September 8 and is currently undergoing treatment for dengue.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court will hear activist Vernon Gonsalves’s bail on September 16 as he continues to be on oxygen support at the State-run J.J. hospital. Read more
Court seeks Vernon Gonsalves’s medical report from JJ Hospital
14/09/2022
The Times of India / by TNN
A special trial court on Tuesday called for a report on an affidvait from state-run J J Hospital on the health condition of Elgar Parishad case accused Vernon Gonsalves who was admitted there last week after being diagnosed with dengue. Read more
Two more accused in the Elgar Parishad case – Anand Teltumbde and Sagar Gorkhe – have approached the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking mosquito nets while alleging that Taloja jail is infested with mosquitoes.
Two more accused in the Elgar Parishad case – Anand Teltumbde and Sagar Gorkhe – have approached the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking mosquito nets while alleging that Taloja jail is infested with mosquitoes. Read more
Court Allows Jailed Activists To Talk On Phone With Families
17/09/2022
NDTV / by pti
The accused are currently in judicial custody and lodged at Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here has permitted activist Anand Teltumbde and five others, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, to have a telephonic conversation with family members for three minutes…
Sudhir Dhavale has filed an application in the court, seeking action against the prison medical officer and the jail authorities for allegedly not providing medical attention to him. Read more
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.” ++
NIA wants to use witness statements from Elgar Parishad in Gadchiroli blast case
02/09/2022
Hindustan Times / by Charol Shah
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that Rona Wilson, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, met with an accused who is wanted in the deaths of 15 police personnel in the Jamburkheda blast in Gadchiroli.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that Rona Wilson, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, met with an accused who is wanted in the deaths of 15 police personnel in the Jamburkheda blast in Gadchiroli. Read more
Mumbai court allows NIA to file evidence from Elgar Parishad probe in Gadchiroli blast case
02/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The judge allowed the agency to produce the statements of two witnesses and a photo identification panchnama.
… The National Investigation Agency, in an application before Special Judge Rajesh Kataria, said that some evidence needed to be brought on record in the Gadchiroli attack case. The court allowed the agency to produce the statements of two witnesses and a photo identification panchnama, according to The Times of India. Read more