Tag: Navlakha

Gautam Navlakha moves SC seeking change of address for house arrest

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New Delhi: Activist Gautam Navlakha, who was ordered to be kept under house arrest in a public library in Mumbai in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking a change of address.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna was told by counsel for Navlakha, that the place, where he is under house arrest, is a public library and needs to be vacated.
“All I am seeking is change of address in Mumbai”, Navlakha’s counsel said, requesting for urgent hearing.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was appearing in another matter in the court, said he had no idea about the mentioning of the application and sought time to respond to it.
The bench said it will take up the matter for hearing on next Friday.
On November 10, last year, the top court allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison in connection with the case, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.
Noting the activist has been in custody since April 14, 2020, and prima facie there is no reason to reject his medical report, it had said Navlakha does not have any criminal background except this case and even the Government of India had appointed him as interlocutor to hold talks with Maoists.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 21, 2023
No allegation of Navlakha committing any act of violence, says lawyer

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Mumbai: There is no allegation against Gautam Navlakha of committing any “act of violence” in the voluminous chargesheet filed in the Elgar Parisha-Maoist links case, the activist’s lawyer told the Bombay High Court on Monday.
While arguing for the activist’s bail, the lawyer also said that there was no prospect of the trial in the case to commence in the near future.
A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik is hearing the arguments on the bail plea, and the same will continue on Tuesday.
Navlakha was arrested in April 2020 after he surrendered before the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and is currently under house arrest pursuant to the Supreme Court’s order.
Appearing for Navlakha, advocate Yug Chaudhary said there was not a single allegation of the activist committing any act of violence, association of violence, abetment of violence, or being part of conspiracy to commit violence in the chargesheet filed by the probe agency.
Hence, no offence under chapter IV (punishment for terrorist activities) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), is made out, he argued.
“The basic ingredient of chapter IV is commission of a terror act, abetment, association or conspiracy. There is nothing against me (accused),” the lawyer submitted.
“There was no description of terrorist acts in the chargesheet No seizure of bombs, arms…there has to be something. It cannot be an imagination,” he said.

Chaudhary, further, claimed that if at all any allegation is made out, it is for offences carrying five to 10 years of imprisonment.
He also pointed out the delay in commencement of trial while arguing for Navlakhha’s bail.
The discharge application was argued months ago, but the prosecution is yet to file its reply. A large number of discharge applications (of other accused) are pending and charges have not been framed yet, the lawyer submitted.
Hence, there is no prospect of the trial to begin soon. Even if the trial begins, it will go on for decades, he added.
Chaudhary further informed the court that till today, they haven’t received the clone copies of the documents seized from the computer of the accused.
The Elgar case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district.
The police had also claimed that the conclave was backed by Maoists. Later the probe in the case, where more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused, was transferred to the NIA.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 27, 2023
NIA accuses Navlakha of links with ISI agent in US, opposes bail plea

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Mumbai: Activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, had connections with a Pakistani ISI agent arrested in the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told the Bombay High Court while opposing his bail application.
The agency, in its affidavit filed in response to Navlakha’s plea, also claimed that he had “committed acts that had a direct impact on the national security, unity and sovereignty.”
NIA lawyer Sandesh Patil on Monday informed a division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik that it had filed its reply opposing Navlakha’s bail plea.
The bench said it would hear arguments on the application on February 27.
The NIA in its affidavit claimed that Navlakha had visited the United States thrice to speak at the Kashmiri American Council Conference organised by Ghulam Nabi Fai with whom Navlakha was in touch regularly.
“Ghulam Nabi Fai was arrested by the (US agency) FBI in July 2011 for accepting funds from the ISI and Pakistan government….Navlakha had written a letter to the judge of the US court trying Ghulam Nabi Fai’s case for clemency,” the NIA said.
“Gautam Navlakha was introduced to a Pakistani ISI General for his recruitment by Ghulam Nabi Fai on the direction of the ISI, showing his nexus and complicity with Ghulam Nabi Fai and Pakistani ISI,” the agency further claimed.
Navlakha is presently under house arrest, instead of being in jail, as permitted by the Supreme Court on health grounds.

The agency also stated that Navlakha has “deep links with CPI (Maoist) and he espouses Maoist ideology and anti-government utterances through his various lectures and videos.”
The objective of these activities was to overthrow the government, it said.
Navlakha was assigned tasks such as uniting intellectuals against government forces and recruitment of cadres for “guerrilla activities of CPI (Maoist)”, the NIA alleged.
He was not merely supporting a banned terror organisation but “had an active role in furthering CPI (Maoist) activities,” it claimed.
The Elgar case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district.
Police had also claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. Later the probe in the case, where more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused, was transferred to the NIA.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 21, 2023