The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated verbally that it was inclined to allow Gautam Navlakha, one of 16 persons accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, to move to his home in Delhi until the trial commences, Live Law reported.
The bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam Chandak, said that the 73-year-old journalist and activist is not a flight risk and has been complying with bail conditions, PTI reported.
Navlakha, who was granted bail in 2023, is currently required to remain in Mumbai and not leave the city without the trial court’s permission.
“Consider the fact that he is 73 years old and is away from his family,” Dangre told Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh. “He is not originally from Mumbai. Even the trial is yet to commence and his discharge application is pending.”
Dangre asked Singh what his position was if Navlakha assured that he would attend hearings from the National Investigation Agency office in Delhi and appear in Mumbai whenever required, Live Law reported.
Advocate Yug Chaudhary, appearing for Navlakha, told the court that he cannot afford to continue living in rented premises in Mumbai and should be allowed to return to his permanent residence in Delhi.
Chaudhary said his “client has become bankrupt” and assured that he would attend “each and every hearing”.
The bench noted that there was no indication that Navlakha was a flight risk and asked Singh to specify any additional conditions that should be imposed.
“A person, especially at this age, would be lost if he lives away from his family,” Live Law quoted Dangre as saying. “He may feel uprooted from his own society, relatives and friends.”
The matter was posted for further hearing on Wednesday after the additional solicitor general sought time to obtain instructions on additional conditions.
Navlakha, is among 16 academicians, activists and lawyers who have been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in instigating caste violence at Bhima Koregaon near Pune in January 2018.
He was arrested in August 2018 and placed under house arrest in November 2022 after the Supreme Court granted his request to be shifted from jail on the grounds of ill health and poor facilities in prison.
In December 2023, the Bombay High Court granted him bail, which was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in May 2024, following which he was released.
The Bhima Koregaon case
The case is related to the violence that broke out in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune on January 1, 2018, a day after the Elgar Parishad conclave was organised to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
One person died in the violence and several others were injured.
Seven years on, the trial in the case is yet to begin. One person accused in the case, Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, died in prison in 2021.
When the Supreme Court in 2023 granted bail to two people accused in the case, it noted that the primary evidence cited by the National Investigation Agency – a batch of letters – was of “weak probative value or quality”. In addition, a digital forensics firm, Arsenal Consulting, concluded that false evidence had been planted on the laptops and devices of the accused.
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