Mumbai Nov 24 PTI The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the lawyers of late Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy to file a fresh petition against observations made by a special NIA court against him in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links caseA division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal was hearing an interim application filed by Swamys lawyer senior counsel Mihir Desai on behalf of Jamshedpur Jesuit Province JJP which is pursuing his case as his next-of-kinThe JJP had sought that priest and Swamys associate father Frazer Mascarenhas be considered his next-of-kin for litigationThey wanted to clear Swamys name in the case they saidSwamy died in a private hospital here on July 5 waiting for the trial in the case to beginEarlier in March this year a special court for National Investigation Agency cases in the city had rejected Swamys bail plea observing that there was prima facie evidence against himSwamy died when his appeal in the HC against the special courts order was pendingThe petitioners had said the NIA courts observations amounted to preliminary findings of guilt against Swamy and the high court should continue the hearing on the appeal and set aside the findingsAfter the HC on Wednesday suggested that a fresh plea should be filed Swamys counsels said they will withdraw the interim application and file a new petitionHC then disposed of as withdrawn Swamys appealsSwamy was arrested in the case in October 2020Suffering from Parkinsons disease and several other ailments he was shifted to a private hospital in May this year where he died following cardiac arrest PTI AYA KRK KRK

Mumbai Oct 24 PTI Activist Gautam Navlakha arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case has been shifted to the Anda Circle high-security barracks in the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai his partner Sahba Husain said on Sunday and claimed the 70-year-olds already fragile health has deteriorated further due to shifting In a statement Husain claimed the activist was shifted to the Anda circle from the regular barracks on October 12 and questioned as to how long will Navlakha be persecuted for his views and to what extent will the authorities go to break his spirit The statement further said the accused in the Elgar Parishad case have had to face indignities and humiliation for the smallest and basic needs in prison In the Anda circle he is deprived of daily walks in the jails non-concreted greener areas and fresh air and his health has deteriorated further making specialised medical care an absolute necessity if he is to live to fight this unjust and false case hoisted on him Husain said These are prisoners of conscience who have had to face indignities and humiliation for the smallest needs and wage court battles for basic dignities in prison Husain said referring to the recent incident wherein Navlakhas spectacles went missing and it was difficult to send him a replacement in time Gautam has faced his unjustified incarceration with courage and spirit How much longer is he going to be persecuted for his views and to what extent will the authorities go to break his spirit Husain asked Navlakha was arrested in the case on August 28 2018 for his alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case While he was initially kept under house arrest he was subsequently sent to judicial custody and is lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai The statement further said that Navlakhas telephone calls to Husain and his lawyers have been discontinued by the prison authorities on the pretext that inmates can now be met in jail physically It added that without his weekly calls to Husain and his lawyers Navlakhas life and his defence will be severely compromised Gautams fragile health and well-being will be further jeopardized by this withdrawal of phone call facility to his family and lawyers the statement said Husain also quoted what Navlakha wrote to her confinement in the Anda circle means denial of fresh airoxygen as there is not a single tree or plant in the open space of the circle We are forbidden to step outside of the Anda circle In other words we spend 16 hours out of 24 cooped inside our cell and the 8 hours we are let out we are confined to a corridor for our daily walk on the cemented floor surrounded by high walls all around Husain stated quoting Navlakha The statement also referred to the recent death of Jesuit priest Stan Swamy a co-accused in the Elgar Parishad case who too had allegedly struggled in prison to get basic facilities and died while awaiting bail on the health grounds Husain added that since she lives in Delhi she has to travel frequently to Mumbai to meet Navlakha in jail for the allotted ten minutes Gautams only contact with me is through the two phone calls he was allowed every week to me that enabled me to send him articles of need including medicines books and so on With the discontinuance of phone calls all this will now depend on letters that take a minimum of two weeks to reach me the statement said It added that apart from calls to her regular access to lawyers through phone calls is also an essential facility for undertrial prisoners To deprive an undertrial prisoner of this effective and efficient mode of securing legal advice and help or access to family is the height of unfairness Husain said Navlakha had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court in September seeking to be shifted from the Taloja prison to judicial custody in the form of house arrest owing to his advanced age and the medical ailments he suffers fromThe plea is pending before the HC PTI SP NSK NSK

Mumbai Aug 30 PTI A special court on Monday refused to grant the NIA the custody of dismissed police officer Sachin Waze for questioning in the Antilia bomb scare case and allowed him to get admitted at a private hospital for treatment of his heart ailment after he said he doesnt want to become another Stan SwamySpecial judge Prashant R Sitre permitted Waze 49 who is currently in jail under judicial custody to get admitted to a private hospital in Thane for treatment for his heart ailment The cost of such treatment is to be borne by Waze and his family the court saidWaze through his lawyer senior advocate Sudeep Pasbola had earlier told the court that three of his arteries had 90 per cent blockage and that doctors had advised immediate surgery for the sameHe urged the court to permit him to seek private medical treatment saying he did not wish to die in custody like tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Stan SwamySwamy 84 an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case had died on July 5 in a private hospital in suburban Bandra while awaiting medical bailLast week the National Investigation Agency NIA had filed an application before the special court seeking the custody of Waze for two days and of his co-accused and former police officer Sunil Mane for five days in the Antilia bomb scare caseWaze and Mane along with eight other accused in the case are currently in judicial custodyThe special court on Monday also refused to grant the NIA Manes custody Previously the central agency had Waze in its custody for 28 days and Mane for 15 daysOn Monday the NIA sought further custody saying it required to question Waze and Mane to corroborate statements of witnessesAdvocate Pasbola however objected to the same and said doctors at government-run JJ Hospital in the metropolis where Waze had been taken from Navi Mumbais Taloja jail prison earlier this month had advised him to undergo a bypass surgery without any delayPasbola produced three medical reports to show Wazes need for immediate medical aid He said nothing was more important than a persons life and that the NIAs probe would be futile if Waze died awaiting medical treatmentNothing is more important than the life of a person The investigation will be futile if the person does not survive Pasbola said We dont want him to become another Stan Swamy he saidThe judge then asked Waze who had been produced before the court if he wished to say anythingWaze said in Marathi then that he did not want to become another Stan Swamy The court in its order directed the Taloja prison authorities to take Waze to the private SS Hospital and Research Centre in Bhiwandi town of Thane district for treatmentIt also directed the Taloja prison Superintendent to submit Wazes medical report before the court every 15 days if the former police officer was admitted to the hospitalAn explosives-laden vehicle was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis south Mumbai residence on February 25 Mansukh Hiran a Thane-based businessman had claimed to be the owner of the vehicle Hiran who had said his vehicle had been stolen a week earlier was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5 The NIA claimed Waze was involved in the planting of the explosives and Hirans murder and arrested him on March 13 He was later dismissed from police service PTI AYA NSK RSY RSY

The NIA has claimed the accused in the Elgar Parishad case wanted to establish their own government and “wage a war against the nation”. The National Investigation Agency submitted its draft chargesheet in the case before a special court in Mumbai earlier this month and a copy of it was made available on Monday, PTI […]