By InSAF (June 19):
We’re Live now talking about India’s incarcerated human right defenders and the #covid emergency with @lsnul @jennyrowena @Aakar__Patel @koel_ko, Simi Korote, Shahrukh Alam and Father Xavier +++
Shahrukh Alam draws important comparison between Indian and other legal systems, noting how the Indian legal system allows for a lengthy period of detention even before the person is found guilty +++
She further notes on how recent #UAPA FIRs against political dissidents are against the right to political protest but are highly problematic in their treatment of dissidents from marginalised groups, openly criminalised and reek of islamophobia +++
@Aakar__Patel notes how post 2014, under a majoritarian government, all minority communities have been sidelined. He further notes how this majoritarianism has resulted in specific legal implications, mostly for Muslims and other minorities +++
He also notes, “the only reason the Bhima Koregaon undertrials are still in jail is because of the state’s malice…”. Are we just going to allow our human right defenders to languish in prisons for the satisfaction of the Indian govt? We need accountability & justice! +++
Listening to Sagar Gonsalves speak about his father and his helplessness in ‘Jailed to Die? India’s incarcerated human rights defenders and the Covid emergency’ … enraging! +++
Father Xavier talks of how Father Stan Swamy, 84 year old in prison, has been criminalised for standing for the rights of the marginalised, specifically rights of tribal and adivasi communities. Shame on the Indian state! +++
Kudos to @jennyrowena for speaking so bravely about how her partner, Prof Hany Babu has challenged caste hierarchies within academia, politics and the country for which he is now being punished. She notes the disproportionate caste representation in these spaces +++
And how the only way to change this is to get freedom from the caste colony, demanding accountabilities Ty from the savarnas! She calls for the takeover of universities, legal system, political systems by Dalit-Bahujans for any hope of change in this country +++
@jennyrowena notes how her husband, prof Hany Babu had a severe eye infection in prison which has since even threatened his vision but was denied appropriate medical attention. This brutality of this legal system is horrific. We stand in solidarity with @jennyrowena & Hany Babu +++
NIA questions maintainability of plea by Prof Shoma Sen seeking quashing of charges
17/06/2021
The Leaflet / by Gahena Gambani
Earlier this year, the Bhima Koregaon case made international headlines, when The Washington Post reported that cybersecurity firm M/s Arsenal Consulting had analysed the laptops of some accused, and reached the conclusion that malware had been planted on the same, presumably with a view to frame the accused.
Soon after, Shoma Sen, an assistant professor and the head of the English Department at Nagpur University, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon matter, approached the Bombay High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution and Section 482 of the CrPC, praying for a quashing of the sanctions against her under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. A similar petition had also been filed by her co-accused, Rona Wilson. Read more
NIA, Maharashtra govt asked to respond to Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen’s petition seeking SIT probe by July 1
17/06/2021
FPJ / by Narsi Benwal
The Bombay High Court bench of Justices Sambhaji Shinde and Nizamoodin Jamadar on Thursday adjourned the hearing in the petitions filed by rights activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen till July 13. The bench has granted a last chance to the National Investigation Agency and Maharashtra government to file its response to the petitions by June 1. Read more
Hope Floats For Bhima Koregaon Political Prisoners After Delhi HC Order
Hope Floats For Bhima Koregaon Political Prisoners After Delhi HC Order
16/06/2021
Outlook India / by Preetha Nair
Kin and lawyers of imprisoned activists say the ruling will help in the delivery of justice.
For the past month, Jenny Rowena has been living in a hotel in Mumbai to attend to her husband Prof Hany Babu, who is undergoing treatment for a severe eye infection in a Mumbai hospital. Babu, a Delhi University associate professor was arrested by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in July 2020 in connection with Bhima Koregaon- Elgar Parishad violence and was lodged in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja jail since then.
Babu is one of the 16 prominent activists, who are facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for their alleged role in the 2018 violence and links with the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit. One of the high-profile cases in the country involving eminent activists, lawyers, and academicians, the Bhima Koregaon case has invited criticism of international forums for the lack of due process. Read more
Granting bail to activists, Delhi HC exposes abuse of UAPA – but flaws inherent in the law remain
16/06/2021
Scroll.in / by Sruthisagar Yamunan
Despite the principles set by the Delhi High Court, bail under UAPA will remain discretionary.
On Tuesday, when the Delhi High Court granted bail to Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha in the Delhi riots cases in which the three activists have been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, it was this simple exercise of “lifting the veil” thrown on the case by the prosecution that has led to a significant precedent.
… As seen in several recent cases, including those against activists in the Bhima Koregaon case in Maharashtra, the trial courts, more often than not, tend to agree with the prosecution on the prima facie truth of the case. Read more
Wrong to treat criticism as sedition: Lawyers welcome Delhi HC verdict quashing UAPA case against activists
16/06/2021
India Today / by Aneesha Mathur
Lawyers have welcomed the decision by Delhi High Court stating that protesters have the right to criticise the government. They also hailed the Court’s verdict defining the lines between criticism of the government and activities that destabilize the country.
… Lawyer Vrinda Grover also said the HC verdict was “significant” since there has been indiscriminate use of the law in recent years… He added: “In this context, we must raise the issue of incarceration of 16 human rights defenders in the Bhima Koregaon case under UAPA for almost three years and the trial is yet to commence. The judiciary must intervene and not allow the criminal legal machinery to be used by the State to suppress fundamental freedoms of citizens, otherwise democracy is in peril.” Read more
Recalling the first set of arrests made in the questionable Bhima Koregaon violence case almost exactly three years ago, Nihalsing B Rathod, in this first of a three-part series, recollects the personal horrors of trying to track Surendra Gadling in the immediate aftermath of his arrest, details the events leading to the arrest of five more activists in August 2018, and explains how basic tenets of criminal law were violated by the Pune Police in making these arrests.
The morning of June 6, 2018, gave me a horrific memory that perhaps will never fade. Early in the morning, I received a phone call that police were at the house of Advocate Surendra Gadling again. The memory of the raid of April 17, 2018, was still fresh. Read more
Remembering Shoma Sen on the third anniversary of her incarceration – A HEROINE IN OUR HEARTS
In these sanitized times
Of death-tainted rivers
And doom-scented air,
When that which we
Cannot even see
Has brought us to our knees,
When falsehood rules
And each passing day
In every possible way,
Turns us into curtsying fools,
Dancing in a living hell,
We think of you, in your tiny cell,
Still unbowed, still full of grace,
Raising your maskless face
To watch a small bird fly
Free across a stillblue sky.
And although our facile arts
Can no longer comfort us,
This treasonous vision does,
Of you, the heroine in our hearts.
Bombay HC Seeks Maha Govt’s Reply on Pleas of Activists Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen
Bombay HC seeks NIA, MHA and Maharashtra’s response to Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen’s challenge to their UAPA prosecution
04/05/2021
The Leaflet / by The Leaflet
The Bombay High Court Tuesday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the state of Maharashtra to file their respective responses to the petitions filed by Rona Wilson and Professor Shoma Sen, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, challenging the decision of the Maharashtra Government granting sanction to prosecute them under the stringent anti-terrorism Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act. Read more
Bombay HC Seeks Maha Govt’s Reply on Pleas of Activists Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen
04/05/2021
News 18 / by pti
A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale also directed the NIA, which is conducting a probe into the case, to file its reply to Sen’s petition.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to file its replies to petitions filed by activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen, seeking quashing of charges against them in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale also directed the NIA, which is conducting a probe into the case, to file its reply to Sen’s petition. Read more
Prof Shoma Sen claims evidence forged, planted on digital devices; moves Bombay HC challenging UAPA charges
15/04/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Sen was arrested for her involvement in connection to the violence in Bhima Koregaon case and has been in judicial detention since then without bail.
Bhima Koregaon accused Shoma Sen has filed a petition before the Bombay High Court challenging the charges slapped against her by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Sen, in her plea, contended that the prosecution’s case against her is built on evidence which was planted on digital devices belonging to a co-accused Rona Wilson. Read more
Prof Shoma Sen challenges prosecution under UAPA; says evidence against her is unfounded, forged and planted on co-accused’s digital devices
14/04/2021
The Leaflet / by The Leaflet
An accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, Professor Shoma Sen, has petitioned the Bombay High Court challenging her prosecution under the stringent anti-terrorism Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act.
Sen, a former Head of Department of English at Nagpur University, alleged that that the case against her had been built entirely on unfounded, forged, hearsay evidence that was planted on digital devices belonging to a co-accused-Rhona Willson, which (devices) were “illegally” seized by the police in complete violation of all safeguards and procedures mandated under applicable law. Read more
The activists had moved the court alleging tampering of evidence in light of the reports published by US cyber forensic firm Arsenal Consulting.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it will hear the petitions filed by activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen in the Bhima Koregaon case on April 29.
The activists had moved the court alleging tampering of evidence in light of the reports published by US cyber forensic firm Arsenal Consulting and seeking that the charges against them be quashed. Read more
Sudha Bharadwaj, currently in Byculla jail, has been showing covid like symptoms
Jyoti Jagtap, accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, and Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, have tested positive for COVID-19 among 38 other inmates in Byculla jail.
A prison official, requesting anonymity, said Sudha Bharadwaj and Shoma Sen, also accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, have been vaccinated but have fever and an upset stomach. Read more
Byculla Jail COVID-19: The deadly wave of coronavirus raging through Maharashtra, making it the worst-affected state in India, has reportedly reached Mumbai’s Byculla Jail. 40 inmates, including former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, have tested positive for the virus, as per reports. Media quoted authorities saying they have been shifted to a quarantine facility. Read more
Bombay High Court Takes Suo Motu Cognisance Of Covid-19 Surge In Prisons
17/04/2021
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
The Bombay High Court on Friday took Suo Motu cognisance of the surge in Covid-19 cases in various prisons across Maharashtra based on newspaper reports.
One hundred and ninety-eight prison inmates tested positive in 47 prisons across the State as of April 14, 2021, according to the reports. Additionally, eighty-six staff members have also tested positive. Read more
Our judicial system punishes a person and their family without trial: Koel Sen
Last Saturday I tried to go to Byculla Jail for a mulakat with Maa but was denied. I was outside the jail waiting for 6 hours !!(I was there from 12.00PM to 6.00PM). They denied me mulakat because I had not come with the verification from the local police station that I am her daughter. Our surnames match and my Aadhar card clearly states that I am d/o of Shoma Sen. Previously I was allowed to meet her on 4-5 instances. I kept telling them that I have already done mulaquat before and that this verification is not a simple process, its taking time. I just wanted to inform my mother that my grandma, her mother-in-law had passed away. But they just kept me hanging there the entire day. I wanted to speak to Superitndnt and he just walked past me and again I waited for 2 more hours for him to get back after his lunch break which lasted from 1.00PM to 4PM. Can you believe ? …
While the High Court of Bombay granted medical bail to Varavara Rao who is now free for the next six months to be with his family and take care of his health, Kanchan has not been so lucky. Shoma Sen, an undertrial in the Bhima Koregaon case understands what it means as she is also battling with several ailments. Here, she explains how the husband of Kanchan’ Nannaware, her co-accused who was in the male section of the same Yerwada Jail was not consulted nor was his consent taken before her surgery. It ultimately proved fatal:
While the Elgar Parishad case received wide and detailed media coverage and many columnists, shocked by the Kafkaesque absurdities of this case were analysing and commenting on it, a political prisoner in Pune Women’s Central Jail was suffering immense hardship due to ill health, till she finally passed away in early February. Read more
