On June 12, the Bombay High Court issued a notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in accused Gautam Navlakha’s fresh bail application, an undertrial in a case concerning Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case and accused of having links with banned organisation CPI (Maoist). The case will be heard next on June 28, 2023.
The case against Gautam Navlakha has been registered u/s 153(A), 505(1)(B), 117, 120(B), 121, 121(A), 124(A) & 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 18(A), 18(B), 20, 38, 39 & 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Gautam Navlakha has moved before the Bombay High Court again after the Special NIA Court rejected his bail application in a detailed order on April 6, which was uploaded on April 13. The trial court observed that ‘Gautam Navlakha was a member of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist).’ In its verdict, the special NIA court judge Rajesh Kataria opined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusation against Navlakha is prima facie true, “Considering the totality of material, Navlakha’s role cannot be segregated from the role of the co-accused in the case and there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against Navlakha are prima facie true,” stated the court’s order.
The trial court in its order also observed that “prima facie it shows that there is a nexus between the accused Navlakha and Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, an agent of Pakistan Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI).
Earlier, in its submission the NIA claimed that the accused Navlakha had thrice visited the United States to participate in and address Kashmir American Council (KAC) conferences organised by Fai; the NIA also submitted that Navlakha had also written to a US judge asking clemency for Fai who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for illegally accepting funds from the ISI to promote Kashmiri Separatist movement in July 2011.
While relying upon the documents namely ‘Supplemental Position of the United States With Respect to Sentencing Factors’ produced by the prosecution the special court observed that the supplementary chargesheet and documents relied on by the prosecution ‘prima facie shows that the applicant is an active member of the said banned terrorist organisation (CPI-Maoist) and he carries out activities in furtherance of the object of said organisation.’ In its verdict, the NIA court also noted ‘that the documents along with the chargesheet show active participation of the accused in the crime and he also underwent weapons training with other accused’.
It is to be noted that last month the Bombay High Court had directed the special NIA court for a fresh hearing in Navlakha’s bail plea citing that the earlier order of September 5 last year that rejected his bail plea does not include the analysis of the evidence submitted by the prosecution. Earlier the Supreme Court in November last year had allowed Navlakha to be kept under house arrest for a month owing to his deteriorating health, the house arrest was later extended in December 2022.
Gautam Navlakha was arrested by the police in connection with the Elgar Parishad Maoist link case in August 2018 and was put under house arrest, He was shifted to Taloja Central Prison following an order of the apex court in April 2020.
It is to be noted that the case pertains to a conference (Elgar Parishad) held in Shaniwar Wada in Pune on December 31, 2017, where inflammatory speeches were made by the members of the frontal organisation of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) which ultimately led to the violence in Bhima Koregaon on the next day.
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