Bhima Koregaon: Gautam Navlakha Gets Bail From SC In Elgar Parishad-Maoist Links Case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had appealed against Bombay High Court order granting regular bail to Navlakha in the case. The top court today lifted the stay on his bail noting that the trail would take years to complete.
The court further noted that Navlakha has allready been incarcerated for fourt years and the trial will go on for long as there are over 370 witnesses and six co-accused have already been granted bail.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti lifted the stay on the Bombay High Court order granting bail to the activist. The Bombay High Court had stayed the bail after NIA moved the top court against grant of regular bail to Navlakha. The stay was extended after that. However, today the top court refused to extend the interim stay on his bail any further.
The top court however asked Gautam Navlakha to pay Rs 20 lakh towards expenses for security in house arrest and made this a pre-condition for bail. In an earlier hearing, the bench remarked that the activist could not escape his liability to pay security costs for his house arrest. The NIA submitted in the top court that Navlakha owed the agency nearly Rs 1.64 crore.
Though he was lodged in prison initially, Navlakha was later shifted to his house and placed under house arrest in November 2022 after the Supreme Court allowed his plea for the same, on the ground of his advanced age.
Navlakha is a journalist and activist who was arrested on April 14, 2020. However, he was placed under house arrest in November 2022 by the Supreme Court due to his age and ill health.
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