Jailed activist Stan Swamy on Friday moved the special National Investigation Agency court with three new petitions, reported The Hindu. The pleas sought direction to the investigation agency to return Swamy’s bag, which was seized during his arrest, a clone copy of his hard disk, and an order not to transfer him from Taloja Jail, where he is currently lodged.
Advocate Shariq Sheikh, appearing for Swamy, told the court that Swamy had heard from a jail official that he may be transferred to another prison and was anxious, Bar and Bench reported. Advocate Prakash Shetty, appearing for the National Investigation Agency, opposed the fresh petitions. He argued that the 83-year-old activist was burdening court records with multiple applications.
The court asked Shetty to file a reply to the three new applications and a bail plea, previously filed by Swamy, by the next hearing of the case on December 10. The central agency was supposed to file its reply to the bail application on Friday, but it sought more time from the court, Bar and Bench reported.
Swamy had filed a fresh bail application on November 26, contending he is not a flight risk and that his arrest is malafide. This was after his medical bail plea was rejected on October 22, according to The Hindu.
Meanwhile, Swamy’s lawyer also confirmed to the court that he had received a straw and sipper and winter clothes from the jail authorities.
An application was filed by Swamy on November 6, seeking permission to use straw and sipper in prison to drink water. The tribal rights activist suffers from Parkinson’s disease. The NIA had sought 20 days to reply to Swamy’s plea. But on the date of the hearing, the agency had informed the court that it does not have his straw or sipper and denied confiscating it.
Special NIA Judge DE Kothalikar had rejected Swamy’s application on November 26. Swamy’s lawyer then moved a fresh bail application seeking a straw, sipper and some winter clothes, this time based on the merits of the case.
A huge campaign, meanwhile, began on social media to send sippers and straws to Swamy. On November 29, Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Chhering Dorje had informed media that he was given a sipper in Taloja Jail.
Swamy was arrested by the NIA in Ranchi on October 8 and was brought to Mumbai the next day. He was accused of being a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and being involved in a conspiracy to instigate caste violence in the Bhima Koregaon village near Pune in 2018.
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