Elgar Parishad case: Mumbai court rejects activist Gautam Navlakha's bail plea

Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai on Sunday denied default bail to activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case. Navlakha had sought default bail under Section 167 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc), claiming he had been in custody for over 90 days. Navlakha, lodged in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja jail, had surrendered before the National Investigation Agency on 14 April this year. Between 28 August and 1 October in 2018, Navlakha was kept under house arrest. Arguing for Navlakha’s bail, his lawyer submitted that the court should also consider house arrest as period under the custody of investigating agencies. He also said the probe agency had not submitted its charge sheet within a stipulated period of 90 days. Appearing for the NIA, Additional Solicitor General of India Anil Singh said the application for default bail was not maintainable. The direction given by HC for house confinement would not be a custody within the meaning of section 167 of CrPC, the agency said. Finding merits in the NIA’s submissions, special judge Dinesh Kothalikar rejected the contention that house arrest period can be included in detention time. The court further held that Navlakha was never under the detention of police for investigation during house arrest. Navlakha was remanded to NIA custody for 10 days by the court after the probe agency sought his remand saying it needed to question him to unearth a conspiracy in connection with the case. The court also accepted NIA’s plea seeking extension of 90 to 180 days to file chargesheet against Navlakha and another accused activist Dr Anand Teltumbde. Navlakha has been arrested along with others in the Elgar Parishad Maoist link case, which was transferred from Pune Police to NIA in January this year. The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on 31 December, 2017, which police said triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial.