Bhima Koregaon case: Bombay HC says it found nothing against activist Gautam Navlakha, extends protection from arrest

Mumbai: On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court observed that it prima facie found nothing against Gautam Navlakha, civil liberties Activist, who is accused of having links with Maoists. The court also extended the protection from arrest granted to Navlakha till the next date of hearing. [caption id=“attachment_5298091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Gautam Navlakha. PTI[/caption] A division bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre was hearing a petition filed by Navlakha seeking to quash the case lodged against him by Pune police after the Elgar Parishad conclave on  31 December 2017, that allegedly triggered violence at Bhima-Koregaon village in Pune the next day. The police accused Navlakha and four other activists of having Maoist links. The activists were booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code. The bench on Wednesday heard brief arguments of  Yug Chaudhary, Navlakha’s counsel and Aruna Kamat Pai, additional public prosecutor and also perused documents submitted by the prosecution against the accused persons. These documents include letters written to Navlakha allegedly by senior Maoist leaders.“There is nothing against him (Navlakha) in any of the letters. We are of the prima facie opinion that there is nothing against him based on the documents submitted to us,” Justice More said. Pai argued that apart from these documents, several other documents were recovered from Navlakha’s laptop that incriminates him. The prosecutor submitted the same to the court in a sealed envelope and said these documents cannot be shared with the petitioner (Navlakha) as the investigation against him was still on. After perusing the documents submitted in the sealed envelope, the high court, however, said there was “nothing secretive” about these documents. “There is nothing secretive in these documents. We are of the prima facie opinion that these documents can be given to him (Navlakha),” Justice More said. Pai said she would take instructions from the investigating officer on whether the documents could be given to Navlakha. The high court then posted the petition for further hearing on 18 June. Chaudhary argued that Navlakha was an author and peace activist and was a specialist on conflict zones. “He was in the past appointed a mediator by the government of India when Naxals had kidnapped six policemen. He is in contact with Naxals but that is only for his books and other fact-finding researches. How can this contact attract provisions of UAPA?” Chaudhary said.“Navlakha has made democracy possible for those living in the margins. Such a person should be cherished and celebrated. But the government is persecuting him with charges like waging war against the nation and sedition,” he argued. Besides Navlakha, some other prominent activists, including Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha Bharadwaj, are also accused in the case.