Bhima Koregaon case: SC dismisses bail plea of Gautam Navlakha
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused bail to activist Gautam Navlakha within the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
A Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit had reserved the case for judgment on March 26. The case was listed on Wednesday.
Justice K.M. Joseph pronounced the decision, saying Mr. Navlakha’s interval of home arrest can’t be counted as “custody” and, therefore, he was not eligible for statutory bail.
The Bench had heard arguments raised by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocates Nitya Ramakrishnan and Shadan Farasat for grant of default bail to Mr. Navlakha beneath Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure learn with Section 43(D)(2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Mr. Navlakha challenged the dismissal of his bail plea by the Bombay High Court on February 8. The High Court had upheld the NIA court docket verdict denying him bail “despite the petitioner spending more than 90 days in custody”.
“The main question that arises is whether a period of 34 days when Navlakha was in custody by way of house arrest pursuant to orders of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court modifying transit remand order dated August 28, 2018 of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate would count as custody for the purpose of default bail,” Mr. Sibal had argued.
Mr. Navlakha was beneath home arrest for 34 days between August 28, 2018, and October 1, 2018 (excluding the final day).
“He was subsequently in police custody for 11 days and judicial custody for 46 days. At this point, he had completed 90 days in custody and was entitled to the indefeasible right to default bail,” Mr. Sibal had argued.
The lawyer submitted that Mr. Navlakha had utilized for default bail on June 11 final 12 months.
“It is admitted the chargesheet was not filed by the investigating agency nor was any extension for filing chargesheet sought by the Public Prosecutor… If you take all three into account, it is 93 days. We say chargesheet was filed after 90th day and thus Navlakha ought to be released on default bail,” the lawyer had argued.
The case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches and provocative statements made by activists on the Elgar Parishad meet in Pune on December 31, 2017. The prosecution claimed that these speeches led to violence at Koregaon Bhima within the district the following day.
The police have additionally alleged that the occasion was backed by Maoist teams.
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