Bhima Koregaon raids: Delhi HC to hear plea of Gautam Navlakha at 2.15 pm today; rights activist currently under house arrest

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday said it will hear at 2.15 pm the plea of rights activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested for alleged unlawful activities after the Maharashtra Police submitted that translated documents of the case were not ready. The court had on Tuesday directed that Navlakha should not be taken away from Delhi till it hears the matter as specific allegations against him were unclear as the documents were in Marathi. [caption id=“attachment_5069461” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of rights activist Gautam Navlakha. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel was informed by Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, appearing for Maharashtra Police, that the documents to be translated from Marathi to English will be provided to Navlakha’s counsel positively by 12 pm. Advocate Nithya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha, said the matter could be heard on Thursday. The court, however, said it will hear the matter at 2.15 pm. It had said that for the time being, Navlakha will be confined to his residence in Delhi under the guard of Delhi Police officers and he will be allowed to only meet or speak to his lawyers. Navlakha was arrested on Tuesday following several raids after which his transit remand was secured from Saket district court to take him to Pune. This order, however, was stayed by the high court. The Maharashtra Police wanted to take Navlakha to Pune in connection with an FIR lodged following an event — ‘Elgaar Parishad’ (conclave) — held in Pune on 31 December last year that triggered violence at Bhima Koregaon village in the state. Several penal provisions under the IPC, including promoting enmity between classes, as well as provisions of terrorist acts, conspiracy and being part of a terror group under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have been invoked against Navlakha. Left-wing activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj, were also arrested on Tuesday as the Maharashtra Police carried out searches at multiple places in several states, including Delhi, on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links. The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra’s Bhima Koregaon village, triggered by an event called ‘Elgar Parishad’.