Bhima-Koregaon case: NIA court rejects Gautam Navlakha’s bail

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Monday rejected the bail petition of civil rights activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case in 2018.

Mr. Navlakha surrendered before the NIA office in Delhi on April 14, 2021, and is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail. Special judge Rajesh J. Katariya rejected Mr. Navlakha’s bail petition and the detailed order is not made available yet.

The Bombay High Court in April this year had rejected his plea seeking house arrest on the grounds of his ill health and poor sanitation conditions in the jail. He has been lodged inside a cell (solitary confinement) which is a high security cell, where he is allowed a walk in the open space for half an hour and has to clean his own cell.

The special NIA court had previously denied him a book written by famous author and humorist P G Wodehouse citing “security risk.”

The cases dates back to December 31, 2017, when ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave was organised and the next day a large number of Dalits and Bahujans gathered near Bhima-Koregaon war memorial and were attacked by a mob, which resulted in the death of a youth from the Maratha community.

On January 2, 2018, a local resident Anita Sawale filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide and subsequently 22 FIRs were registered in the case. Most of the cases are under investigation. Subsequently, the Pune police conducted a crackdown and arrested activists Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson, Varvara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves, Mr Navlakha, Hany Babu, late Father Stan Swamy, Mr. Gaichor, Mr. Gorkhe and Ms Jagtap. While Mr. Bhide and Mr. Ekbote were granted bail, others continue to be incarcerated in jails.