Stan Swamys next-of-kin files new plea against NIA courts observations against him
Mumbai Dec 17 PTI Father Frazer Mascarenhas an associate of late Jesuit priest Stan Swamy has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to clear Swamys name in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links caseIn a petition filed through senior counsel Mihir Desai on Thursday Mascarenhas former principal of city-based St Xaviers College also sought that the court monitor the judicial inquiry into Swamys custodial deathLast month the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province JJP had requested the high court that Mascarenhas be considered as Swamys next-of-kin and allowed to challenge observations made by the lower court while rejecting Swamys bail plea in the Elgar Parishad caseA division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal had asked the JJP to file a fresh plea while disposing of all pending pleas filed by SwamySwamy 84 died at a private hospital in Mumbai on July 5 while awaiting medical bailEarlier in March 2021 a special court for National Investigation Agency cases had rejected his bail applicationThere was prima facie evidence against him in the case the court had notedSwamy then filed an appeal in the HC but he died before the HC could decide itIn the fresh plea filed in the high court Mascarenhas said the NIA courts observations amounted to preliminary findings of guilt against Swamy and besmirched his reputationHad Swamy been alive he would have had the right to prove his innocence and his next-of-kin should be given the right to clear his name considering that he died awaiting trial the petition saidIt also urged the high court to monitor the judicial inquiry which is held when a person dies in judicial custody under section 176 of the Code of Criminal ProcedureBesides the immediate cause of death the inquiry must also look into the events that preceded his death including his worsening health while at Taloja prison and the inadequate health facilities there it saidThe HC is yet to assign a date for the hearing of the pleaThe Elgar Parishad case relates to a conclave held in Pune on December 31 2017 which as per city police was backed by Maoists and which led to caste violence at Koregaon Bhima war memorial the next day PTI AYA KRK KRK
Mumbai Dec 17 PTI Father Frazer Mascarenhas an associate of late Jesuit priest Stan Swamy has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to clear Swamys name in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links caseIn a petition filed through senior counsel Mihir Desai on Thursday Mascarenhas former principal of city-based St Xaviers College also sought that the court monitor the judicial inquiry into Swamys custodial deathLast month the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province JJP had requested the high court that Mascarenhas be considered as Swamys next-of-kin and allowed to challenge observations made by the lower court while rejecting Swamys bail plea in the Elgar Parishad caseA division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal had asked the JJP to file a fresh plea while disposing of all pending pleas filed by SwamySwamy 84 died at a private hospital in Mumbai on July 5 while awaiting medical bailEarlier in March 2021 a special court for National Investigation Agency cases had rejected his bail applicationThere was prima facie evidence against him in the case the court had notedSwamy then filed an appeal in the HC but he died before the HC could decide itIn the fresh plea filed in the high court Mascarenhas said the NIA courts observations amounted to preliminary findings of guilt against Swamy and besmirched his reputationHad Swamy been alive he would have had the right to prove his innocence and his next-of-kin should be given the right to clear his name considering that he died awaiting trial the petition saidIt also urged the high court to monitor the judicial inquiry which is held when a person dies in judicial custody under section 176 of the Code of Criminal ProcedureBesides the immediate cause of death the inquiry must also look into the events that preceded his death including his worsening health while at Taloja prison and the inadequate health facilities there it saidThe HC is yet to assign a date for the hearing of the pleaThe Elgar Parishad case relates to a conclave held in Pune on December 31 2017 which as per city police was backed by Maoists and which led to caste violence at Koregaon Bhima war memorial the next day PTI AYA KRK KRK
