Special NIA Court Refuses Bail To Gautam Navlakha In Elgar Parishad-Maoist Link Case

A Special NIA Court in Mumbai has rejected the bail plea of activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elghar Parishad-Maoist links case.

Navlakha was arrested on August 28, 2018 for his alleged involvement in the case. He was initially kept under house arrest, but was later sent to judicial custody and lodged at the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

Special Judge Rajesh J Katariya today rejected Navlakha's bail plea. Details of the order are awaited.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city's outskirts.

The Pune police had also claimed that the conclave was backed by Maoists.

Earlier, the Bombay High Court had dismissed a petition filed Gautam Navlakha praying that he be placed under house arrest instead of being lodged in prison. The Division Bench of Justice S B Shukre and Justice G A Sanap had held that his grievances and apprehensions about the lack of medical aid and basic facilities at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai, where he is currently lodged, are "ill-founded".

The Supreme Court had granted permanent medical to Varavara Rao, another accused in the case, by allowing his appeal against the order of the Bombay High Court while clarifying that Rao shall not leave Mumbai.

With PTI inputs