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Tag: Elgar Parishad case

  • Elgar Parishad case: Maharashtra government opposes Sudha Bharadwaj’s bail plea

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Thursday opposed before the Bombay High Court a bail petition filed by activist Sudha Bharadwaj, arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, saying her contention about a lower court lacking jurisdiction was incorrect.

    Bharadwaj, in jail since September 2018, has sought bail on the technical ground that the court which took cognizance of the charge sheet initially lacked the power to do so.

    Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni argued that although the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was invoked in the case, the investigation was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from the police in 2020.

    The case fell under the purview of a special court only after the NIA took it over, he said.

    The sessions court in Pune, till then, had the jurisdiction, he added.

    Special courts are set up under the NIA Act to “try” the matters investigated by the NIA, which “does not include hearings pre-trial,” Kumbhakoni said.

    “The contention raised by the petitioner is fallacious,” the advocate general claimed.

    A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar will continue to hear the petition on July 23.

    According to Bharadwaj, the sessions court in Pune which remanded her and eight others in police custody in 2018 did not have the power to hear a UAPA case.

    Her lawyer Yug Chaudhry argued in earlier hearings that in offenses under the UAPA, a sessions judge can take cognizance only on specific instructions from the District Judge.

    Police had alleged that `inflammatory’ speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune led to caste violence at the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in the district on January 1, 2018, and the conclave was backed by Maoists.

    Activist Stan Swamy, arrested in the case last year, died in hospital earlier this month.

  • Elgar Parishad case transferred to NIA as it pertains to national security: Probe agency to Bombay HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The NIA told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that the Centre suo motu (on its own) decided to transfer the probe into the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case from Pune police to the central agency as it had implications on national security.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) also said its credibility is being questioned, while it is fighting for the prevention of unlawful and terrorist activities in the country, in which “Naxal plague” has caused destruction at many levels.

    It further claimed that while considerable autonomy and functional prerogatives have been accorded to state governments, greater powers and prerogatives over a complex range of all-encompassing subjects are vested with the Union government.

    The central agency submitted its affidavit in the HC in response to a petition filed by human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling and activist Surendra Dhawale, arrested in the case, challenging the January 2020 decision of the Union government to transfer the probe into the case from the Pune police in Maharashtra to the NIA.

    The petition, filed through advocate S B Talekar in 2020, alleged that the case was transferred by the central government after the BJP lost power in Maharashtra and hence, the decision was ‘politically motivated’.

    On Tuesday, Talekar told a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar that the probe into the case was transferred to the NIA two years after the FIR was registered.

    He submitted to the court that the NIA had filed an affidavit in the case, but the Centre and the Maharashtra government were yet to file their affidavits.

    However, NIA’s counsel Sandesh Patil said he was not aware of the affidavit filed by the probe agency.

    “The earlier advocate appearing for the NIA must have filed it. I will have to check. Give me a week’s time to put our house in order,” Patil said.

    The bench then posted the petition for further hearing on July 19.

    The NIA in its affidavit said considering the gravity of the offence and its “inter-state link and implications on national security”, the Centre suo motu directed the NIA to take up the investigation into the case.

    “The present petition is malafide and vexatious as it is a desperate attempt by the petitioner to thwart the investigation into the case related to the Elgar Parishad,” the affidavit said.

    It further said the petitioners were questioning the credibility of the agency which is fighting towards prevention of unlawful and terrorist activities in the country, in which the ‘Naxal plague’ has caused destruction at many levels.

    The affidavit said the NIA was probing the case against the petitioners and other co-accused in a ‘responsible and impartial manner’ and it had no personal agenda against them.

    After the NIA took over the probe into the case, a Pune court transferred the case to the special NIA court in Mumbai, it added.

    The NIA in its affidavit also said the “continuous preservation and promotion of national security is the first and final sovereign function of a country”.

    It claimed that while considerable autonomy and functional prerogatives have been accorded to state governments, greater powers and prerogatives over a complex range of all-encompassing subjects are vested with the Union government.

    “A contextual construction of the provisions of the Constitution of India would show that the sovereign function of maintenance of national security is squarely vested with the Union (government),” it said.

    The affidavit further said the primary objective to establish the NIA was to better tackle cross-border crimes with inter-state and international originations and ramifications.

    Apart from Gadling and Dhawale, several other activists – Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Shoma Sen – have been arrested in the case.

    They are accused of being active members of the CPI (Maoist) and propagating Maoist ideology and inciting violence.

    The activists have been booked under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), apart from various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy was also arrested in the case.

    The 84-year-old tribal rights activist died in a Mumbai hospital last week in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds.

    The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

    The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.

  • Stan Swamy’s death in custody can’t be jusitified: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the death of Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Jesuit priest Stan Swamy in custody cannot be justified even if Maoists are “more dangerous than Kashmiri separatists”.

    In his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut wondered whether India’s foundation was so weak that an 84-year-old man could can wage a war against it, and said being critical of an incumbent government doesn’t mean being against the country.

    Swamy, 84, possibly the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India, died in a Mumbai hospital recently in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds.

    “A government that is scared of an 84-year-old physically challenged man is dictatorial in character, but weak in the mind,” said Raut, who is the executive editor of ‘Saamana’.

    The activities of the Elgar Parishad cannot be supported, but what happened later should be called a “conspiracy of cracking down on freedom”, Raut said, referring to the arrest of activists like Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gaurav Navlakha and others in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

    Raut said all those arrested (in the case), including (scholar-activist) Anand Teltumbde, belong to a particular ideology who voice their rebellion through literature.

    “Can they overthrow the government with this?” he asked.

    Raut said Stan Swamy died in custody while Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with those who want autonomy for Kashmir and are demanding restoration of Article 370 there.

    “We may not agree with the ideology of Maoists and Naxals.

    Swamy’s death in custody cannot be justified even if Maoists and Naxals are more dangerous than Kashmiri separatists,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    He expressed surprise over Prime Minister Modi’s name figuring in the list of global leaders who crack down on press freedom.

    “The situation has not gone out of hand in India even if it is true that the government’s critics are put in jail under sedition laws. The Indian press also raises its voice against such incidents,” he said.

    “Is the country’s foundation so weak that it can be threatened by an 84-year-old man?” Raut asked.

     

  • Produce papers to prove Pune judge had jurisdiction over Elgar case: Bombay HC to Maharashtra

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to produce documents or record to show that sessions judge KD Vadane, who took cognisance of a chargesheet filed by the Pune police against lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and some of her co-accused in the Elgar-Parishad-Maoist links case, had the jurisdiction to do so.

    A bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar gave the direction after noting that the records produced by the high court registry “matched” with the claim made by Bharadwaj that Judge Vadane was not a designated special judge.

    The bench was referring to the claim made by Bharadwaj through her counsel, senior advocate Yug Chaudhry, in her plea filed in the HC seeking default bail.

    Earlier this week, Chaudhry had told the HC that Judge Vadane was an additional sessions judge, but he had “pretended” to be a “special judge” and remanded Bharadwaj and eight others to Pune police’s custody in 2018.

    Judge Vadane had also taken cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the police in the case even though he had no jurisdiction to do so, Chaudhry had said. He had placed replies that Bharadwaj had received from the high court and the Maharashtra government authorities showing that Judge Vadane had never been designated as a special judge.

    At the time, the HC had said it wished to confirm the same with the records of the high court registry. On Thursday, the bench said the registry “record matches with what is submitted in the petition”. Chaudhry then said that since Bharadwaj and others had been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), only a designated special court could have taken cognisance of their case.

    He said in cases of scheduled offences such as those under the UAPA, a sessions judge has the power to take cognisance only if there exist specific instructions from the “Principal District Judge (PDJ)”. At this, the bench asked the Maharashtra government’s chief public prosecutor, Aruna Pai, to show if there existed such an order. “Show us any document through which PDJ gave powers to Vadane to hear the matter,” the bench said.

    The bench said there were documents to show that while the Pune police took the case and the chargesheet before Judge Vadane, designated special judges were officiating in special courts in Pune at the time.

    Pai sought time and said she will provide an answer to the court after taking instructions from relevant authorities. “There is no explanation coming from the government. The IO (investigative officer) should have explained why he didn’t go to a special judge,” Chaudhry maintained.

    The court also asked Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the National Investigating Agency (NIA), to respond to the claims made by Chaudhry. The Elgar Parishad case of 2017-2018, which was earlier handled by the Pune police, was later handed over to the NIA and its trial was shifted to Mumbai.

    Bharadwaj was arrested in August 2018 and placed under house arrest. She was taken into physical custody by the Pune police in September 2018. The NIA took over the investigation in January 2020. On Thursday, ASG Singh told the HC that he did not agree with Chaudhry’s submission that only a special judge could have taken cognisance of the case.

    He said offences under UAPA were serious and hence, the focus must be on their early disposal. “The purpose for this Act (UAPA) is to punish the offender. There has to be expeditious and early disposal of cases. Nothing is above national security,” Singh said.

    “Special judges are not different from sessions judges. It is a sessions judge, who is appointed as a special judge. So, he is not, not competent to handle such cases,” he said. The HC adjourned further hearing on the plea to July 15.

    Bharadwaj has said in her plea that since Judge Vadane had no jurisdiction over the case, he couldn’t have remanded her and her co-accused to the Pune police’s custody, taken cognisance of the chargesheet, and denied them bail.

    The HC has tagged similar pleas filed by Bharadwaj’s co-accused Arun Ferreira, Anand Teltumbde and Sudhir Dhawale, through advocate R Sathyanarayan, raising objections to Judge Vadane’s jurisdiction.

  • Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case: Accused Surendra Gadling seeks bail from Bombay High Court

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Advocate Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, on Tuesday urged the Bombay High Court to grant him temporary bail to take part in certain rituals on the first death anniversary of his mother next month.

    Gadling had moved the high court last year seeking bail.

    In his plea, filed through senior lawyer Indira Jaising and advocate R Sathyanarayan, Gadling had challenged a special court’s order from 2020 that rejected his plea for temporary bail to attend the last rites of his mother.

    Gadling was arrested by the Pune police in June 2018 (the case was later taken over by the NIA), and has remained lodged in the Taloja central prison in Navi Mumbai since then awaiting trial.

    On August 15, 2020, his mother died in Nagpur.

    Gadling then filed the temporary bail plea before the special NIA court in Mumbai (where the case was shifted for trial), seeking release from jail for three weeks to perform his mother’s last rites, but his application was rejected.

    He had then moved the HC, wherer his plea was adjourned several times.

    However, on Tuesday, advocate Jaising told a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar that Gadling be granted temporary bail to attend some rituals on his mother’s first death anniversary.

    “The funeral rites of the mother have not been conducted till now and they have been planned on the first death anniversary, on August 15, 2021,” Jaising told the HC, urging it to grant temporary bail to Gadling.

    The HC posted the plea for further hearing on July 22.

  • His death an ‘institutional murder’, ‘indifferent courts’ responsible: Stan Swamy’s family, friends

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Terming activist Stan Swamy’s death an “institutional murder”, the family members and friends of the other accused arrested in the Elgar Parishad case said on Tuesday that they held the “negligent jails, indifferent courts and malicious investigating agencies” responsible for it.

    In a statement, they said it was “unconscionable” that someone as old as Swamy and who was suffering poor health was put in jail amid a pandemic. They also said that they feared for the lives of their family members and colleagues in jails who were facing “similar injustices” in jails.

    Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Ranchi in October 2020 under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the Elgar Parishad case and lodged at the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.

    The 84-year-old died at the Holy Family Hospital, where he was admitted on May 29, in Mumbai on Monday, a day after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was put on ventilator support. The Elgar Parishad case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made by some activists at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.

    Police claim these speeches triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the city and that the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.

    “We, the friends and family members of those accused in the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case, are deeply pained and shaken to the core by the loss of Father Stan Swamy. This is not a natural death but the institutional murder of a gentle soul committed by an inhuman state,” the statement said.

    “Having spent his life amongst the ‘Adivasis’ in Jharkhand, fighting for their right to resources and lands, Father Stan did not deserve to die in this manner, far from his beloved Jharkhand, falsely imprisoned by a vindictive state. Even his COVID disease was not diagnosed in jail and could only be detected after he was moved to the hospital on orders of the (Bombay) high court,” it said.

    Swamy was the last of the 16 people to be arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he was the oldest and the frailest among those arrested, the statement said. “While we grieve at the passing away of Father Stan Swamy, we unequivocally hold the negligent jails, the indifferent courts and the malicious investigating agencies firmly responsible for his unfortunate death. We fear for the health and lives of our family members and colleagues, who are facing similar injustices in the same jails, under the same unaccountable system,” it added.

    The statement further said, “We continue our vigil for everyone’s safety and security, and as Father Stan would appreciate, ‘we refuse to be silent spectators and are ready to pay the price!’” Swamy had said he had never been to Bhima Koregaon.

    NIA officials had said investigations established that he was actively involved in the activities of the CPI (Maoist). The agency also alleged that he was in contact with “conspirators” to further the group’s activities. Others arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case include some of India’s most respected scholars, lawyers, academicians and activists.

  • Grim Reaper, not state, sets activist Stan Swamy free at 84

    Express News Service
    RANCHI/MUMBAI: Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Monday shortly before the Bombay High Court took up his plea for bail. He was 84. Swamy had been languishing in Mumbai’s Taloja Jail ever since the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on October 8 last year. The High Court had on May 28 told state prison authorities to shift him to the private Holy Family Hospital in Bandra.

    On July 3, the HC slated his bail plea for hearing on July 6. However, his lawyers moved the court on Monday seeking urgent hearing after his health deteriorated and he was put on ventilator.Earlier on March 23, special judge D E Kothalikar had refused bail even on health grounds saying the “collective interest of the community would outweigh Swamy’s right to personal liberty” given the seriousness of the allegations made against Swamy. “As such the old age and or alleged sickness of the applicant would not go in his favour,” he said.Prima facie Swamy had hatched a “serious conspiracy” with members of a banned Maoist outfit to create unrest and to overthrow the government, the court had ruled, while refusing bail. 

    On Monday, when a bench comprising justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar took up the bail plea around 2.30 pm, counsel Mihir Desai urged the court to hear Dr Ian D’souza, director of the Holy Family Hospital. He broke the news of Swamy’s demise at 1.24 pm. Swamy had suffered cardiac arrest on Saturday and count not be revived, the doctor said, adding, “Cause of death is definitely pulmonary infection and Parkinson’s disease among others.” A shocked bench said, “With all humility at our command, we are sorry to know that Stan Swamy passed away. We have no words to express.”

    Health check:

    Sudha Bharadwaj

    She is 58, has multiple ailments. Her family members say her health deteriorated during her stay in jail, and that she has developed arthritis and a heart condition

    Anand Teltumbde

    At 72, he has pre-existing ailments, his family has pointed out, adding inadequate facilities in prison further aggravated his condition and left him exposed to Covid

    Hany Babu

    At 54, Babu developed acute eye infection in Taloja jail. He now has little vision in the eye due to swelling. He is currently at Breach Candy at his own expense after testing Covid+

    Gautam Navlakha

    He is 70. Taloja prison officials had last year refused to accept a parcel containing new spectacles for him after the old one was stolen in jail

    Surendra Gadling

    53-year-old, he has co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and asthma

    Varavara Rao

    The octogenarian got interim bail in March after two years in jail. He was denied even basic healthcare facilities during incarceration

  • Elgar Parishad case: Varavara Rao only accused to secure bail on health grounds, others still in jail

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The death of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, at a hospital here while fighting a legal battle for bail on health grounds, has left many shocked, but there are 11 other accused arrested in connection with the same case who continue to remain lodged in jails for the past three years.

    Poet-activist Varavara Rao (81) is the only accused in the case to have secured an interim bail.

    The Bombay High Court had in February this year granted Rao conditional bail for six months considering his medical condition.

    Rao had been in jail since his arrest in August 2018.

    Another accused Hany Babu is presently admitted at the Breach Candy hospital at his own expense after he tested positive for COVID-19.

    Prominent among other accused, namely Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira are still behind bars.

    Except for Bharadwaj, all the other accused remain lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.

    Bharadwaj, 58, is currently lodged in Mumbai’s Byculla prison since her arrest in the case in August 2018.

    Last month, she filed a bail plea in the high court on the ground that the chargesheet in the case was not filed within the mandatory 90-day period and hence she was entitled for a default bail as per the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

    In May, Bharadwaj’s daughter Maaysha Singh had filed a petition seeking bail for her mother on medical grounds stating that prisoners are entitled to access their medical records and should be allowed to make a phone call to a family member after a hospital visit.

    The HC disposed of the plea after Singh’s lawyer submitted that Bharadwaj had received medical treatment.

    In May last year, Bharadwaj had sought interim bail before the lower court citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The plea was rejected.

    Activist Gautam Navlakha, 70, was arrested in October 2018 after remaining under house detention for a month.

    His bail plea was recently rejected by the Supreme Court.

    In December last year, Navlakha’s family had claimed that Taloja prison officials, where he is lodged, had refused to accept a parcel containing new spectacles for him as his had been stolen in jail.

    All these accused were booked in connection with the 2017 Pune Elgar Parishad case.

    Investigators had alleged that inflammatory and provocative speeches were made at this conclave on December 31, 2017, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima in the Pune district the next day.

    The police had also alleged that the event was backed by some Maoist groups.

  • Imprisoned in Elgar Parishad case, father Stan Swamy passes away at 84; Bombay HC expresses shock

    By Online Desk
    Tribal activist Father Stan Swamy, who was imprisoned in the Bhima Koregaon case, passed away on Monday ahead of his bail hearing in the Bombay High Court.

    The bench, comprising Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar, expressed shock over the news and said it was at a loss of words and hoped Swamy’s soul would rest in peace. Meanwhile, the Jesuit Provincial of India released a statement expressing grief over Swamy’s death. It said the priest had worked all his life for the “Adivasis, Dalits, and marginalised communities”.

    Senior counsel Desai told the HC that he had no grievances against the HC and the private hospital where Swamy was treated, but he could not say the same for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is conducting a probe into the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, and the state prison authorities.

    Desai claimed the NIA had been negligent in providing timely and adequate medical aid to Swamy, and urged the HC to initiate a judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to the undertrial activist’s death.

    He said Swamy was taken to the state-run JJ Hospital 10 days before his admission to the Holy Family Hospital (on May 29 this year). But, he was not tested for COVID-19 at the J J Hospital, he said. Swamy’s report came out positive for coronavirus when tested at the private hospital, the lawyer said.

    About the probe agency, Desai said, “The NIA did not seek Swamy’s custody even for a single day, but kept opposing his bail pleas.”

    He also pointed out that since Swamy died while being in custody, the state authorities were mandated to conduct a postmortem in accordance with guidelines of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

    While the HC did not pass any orders initiating a judicial inquiry, it recorded in its order that the amended section 176 (1A) of the CrPC mandated judicial inquiry into every case of death in custody. If the same provision was applicable in the present case, the state and prosecuting agencies would have to comply with the same, the HC said.

    The court directed that the state authorities complete all formalities and hand over Swamy’s body to his associate, Father Frazer Mascarenhas. The directive came after Desai told the court that while normally a dead body was handed over to one’s family, Swamy was a priest and had no family. “The Jesuits were his only family,” he said.

    The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.

    Replugging my piece with immense pain. Tribute to Stan Swamy: https://t.co/8aJQfYFgGA
    — Kaleeswaram Raj (@KaleeswaramR) July 5, 2021

     The HC also recorded in its order that Swamy’s funeral will be held in Mumbai in accordance with the COVID-19 protocols applicable in the city. The bench was presiding over an urgent application moved by Desai to hear Swamy’s medical bail plea.

    The bench began the hearing asking for Swamy’s latest medical reports from the hospital authorities, when the NIA intervened objecting to the urgent mentioning. Desai then intervened, urging the HC to let Dr D’souza address the court for “just a minute”.

    The court was then told that Swamy suffered a cardiac arrest on July 4 early morning. “He was put on a ventilator then, but he never regained consciousness following the cardiac arrest. He was finally declared dead this afternoon,” Dr Dsouza told the court.

    The doctor said Swamy recovered from COVID-19, but had lung complications, and was also a known case of Parkinson’s disease. “A possible combination of these led to septicemia,” Dr D’Souza told the HC.

    “We record with a heavy heart that Dr Ian Dsouza, medical director of the Holy Family Hospital, informed us that Stan Swamy passed away at 1:24 pm today. Dr.D’souza, we are sorry to know that despite your best efforts, Fr.Swamy is no longer with us. Mr Desai, accept our condolences. May his soul rest in peace. We are all very shocked. What to now say further? We appreciate your efforts. You made him (Swamy) agree to get admitted to the hospital and he got the best medical treatment. But ,unfortunately, he could not survive,” the bench said.

    Swamy was earlier lodged in the Taloja prison hospital in neighbouring Navi Mumbai as an undertrial since his arrest in October 2020. Following the HC’s orders, Swamy was shifted to the Holy Family Hospital here in May this year, and the cost of his treatment at the medical facility was being borne by his associates.

    At that time, a visibly frail Swamy had appeared before a vacation bench of the court via video conferencing and urged it to grant him interim bail. He had said that his health declined steadily while in the Taloja prison.

    He had refused admission to the J J Hospital and had said if things continued the way they were, he “would die soon”. “I would rather suffer, possibly die very soon, if this were to go on. My deterioration is more powerful than the small tablets that the JJ Hospital gives me,” he had said.

    Swamy had said he wished to go to Ranchi to be among his people. He had approached the HC earlier this year, challenging the order of a special court from March last year that denied him bail both on merits and medical grounds.

    He had told the HC that he suffered from advanced stages of the Parkinson’s disease and various other ailments. However, the NIA had filed an affidavit in the HC last month opposing his bail plea. The central agency had said Swamy was a Maoist and part of a conspiracy to create unrest in the country.

    It had said there was no “conclusive proof” of his medical ailments.

    Last Friday, Swamy, through advocate Desai, filed a fresh plea challenging section 45D(3) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), that imposes stringent bar on grant of bail to an accused charged under the Act.

    The section, Swamy had said, created insurmountable obstacles for an accused to be granted bail and was thus, violative of one’s fundamental right to life and liberty. His medical bail plea and the fresh plea were listed for hearing last Friday, but could not be taken up by the HC due to “paucity of time”.

    The court had at the time adjourned the hearing to July 6, and extended Swamy’s stay at the private hospital till then. On Monday, it acceded to Desai’s request for not disposing of the pleas. The HC said it will hear Desai’s submissions on the UAPA plea on July 13.

    The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

    Reactions on twitter:

    Deeply saddened by the passing of Fr. Stan Swamy. Unjustifiable that a man who fought all through his life for our society’s most downtrodden, had to die in custody. Such travesty of justice should have no place in our democracy. Heartfelt condolences!
    — Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) July 5, 2021

    Sad to learn of Fr #StanSwamy’s passing. A humanitarian & man of God whom our government could not treat with humanity. Deeply saddened as an Indian. RIP. https://t.co/aOB6T0iHU9
    — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 5, 2021

    Shocked to learn about the demise of Father Stan Swamy. He dedicated his life working for tribal rights. I had strongly opposed his arrest & incarceration. The Union Govt should be answerable for absolute apathy & non provision of timely medical services, leading to his death.
    — Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) July 5, 2021

    Heartfelt condolences on the passing of Father Stan Swamy.He deserved justice and humaneness.
    — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 5, 2021

    (With inputs from PTI)

  • Father Stan Swamy, imprisoned in Elgar Parishad case, passes away at 84

    By Online Desk
    Tribal activist Father Stan Swamy, who was imprisoned in the Bhima Koregaon case, passed away on Monday ahead of his bail hearing in the Bombay High Court.

    The 84-year-old had approached the Bombay High Court seeking bail on medical grounds.

    The NIA had opposed his application for bail.

    Following a HC order, Father Stan was transferred from the Taloja Central Jail in Mumbai to a private hospital in May for treatment during the pendency of his bail plea.

    While undergoing treatment, he had tested positive for COVID-19. On Sunday night, he was put on ventilator support after his health deteriorated. 

    The NIA arrested Swamy on October 8 last year, in a case related to the violence which erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle on January 1 in 2018, leaving one dead and several others injured.