New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday extended independent Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi's protection from an arrest till March 13 in the NIA case pertaining to the anti-CAA protest case and suspected Maoists links, reported news agency PTI. The lawmaker has been a very vocal critic of the Central government since the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. Gogoi moved the apex court challenging the February 9 order by the Gauhati High Court which allowed the special NIA court in Assam to go ahead with framing the charges against him in the case.
A bench of justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal at the Supreme Court has postponed the case until March 13 as the petitioner’s counsel was not present during the hearing.
The bench said, “Interim protection to continue till the next date.”
Earlier, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) informed the apex court that it can not grant bail to Gogoi because of his alleged associations with the Maoist activities in the state. However, the MLA has denied any such links and described cases against him as “political vendetta.”
The High Court had earlier allowed the NIA to frame charges against the lawmaker and three others known to him in the special court. This was in connection with anti-CAA protests and suspected Maoist links, reported news agency PTI.
Three others who are accused in the case are Dhaijya Konwar, Bittu Sonowal and Manash Konwar.
The High Court had issued the order after the NIA filed an appeal challenging a special NIA court order that gave them a clean chit in the case, as cited by PTI.
A bench of justices comprising Justices Suman Shyam and Malasri Nandi had asked the agency to proceed with the framing of charges against them after reopening the case.
While commenting on this, Gogoi's counsel Santanu Borthakur said, “The high court has accepted NIA's plea to reopen the case and frame charges against the four persons. The case will be heard again in the special NIA Court,” reported PTI.
The MLA approached the top court after all others were granted bail except him. Gogoi was the only one to be released after spending about 567 days in prison. A Special NIA Judge Pranjal Das had cleared him earlier.
The NIA is probing two cases related to anti-CAA protests in which Gogoi was involved. He was granted bail in one of the two cases by the NIA special court earlier. It was upheld by the Gauhati High Court too in April 2021.
Gogoi continued to remain in judicial custody after he was rejected bail in the second case related to anti-CAA violence that the NIA was investigating. He was released on July 1, 2021 by the special NIA court. The court had observed that nothing hinted at any possible “terrorist act” due to the “talk of blockade”, reported PTI.
After this, the NIA approached the Gauhati High Court with an appeal to grant them permission to frame charges under various sections such as sedition, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 among multiple other IPC sections.