A special National Investigation Agency court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case, reported Bar and Bench.
Navlakha, a former secretary of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, had moved the High Court after the special National Investigation Agency court rejected his bail plea on September 5.
The National Investigation Agency had opposed Navlakha’s bail plea alleging that he is a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and that he possessed incriminating documents related to the group.
Navlakha had challenged the special court’s order in the Bombay High Court. Last month, the High Court had directed the special court to conduct a fresh hearing. The High Court had noted that the special court’s order was cryptic and did not consider an analysis of evidence carried out by the prosecution, reported The Indian Express.
On November 10, the Supreme Court had allowed Navlakha to be placed under house arrest in Navi Mumbai for a month. The house arrest was extended by a month on December 14 on account of his medical condition.
The Bhima Koregaon case, in which Navlakha has been named as an accused person, pertains to caste violence in a village near Pune in 2018. A total of 16 persons were arrested in the case. The 73-year-old was arrested in April 2020.
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