Bhima Koregaon case: SC asks NIA to respond on shifting of location of house arrest for Gautam Navlakha

The case involves a plea of activist Gautam Navlakha, who is under house arrest in the case, that he be shifted from a public library in Mumbai to some other place.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks' time to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file an affidavit on the application of Gautam Navlakha, who is under house arrest in the Bhima Koregaon case, seeking a change of the location of house arrest. A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna asked the NIA to file its response and posted the matter for hearing in August.

Navlaka filed an application seeking to be shifted from the public library, under the control of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Mumbai, where he is under house arrest, to some other place in the city as the public library needed to be vacated.

On November 10, the apex court in an interim order permitted Navlakha to be placed under house arrest for a period of one month considering his health condition and old age. Later it extended his house arrest.

The top court had put a number of conditions, including a deposit of Rs 2.4 lakh as the expenses to be borne by the state for making available police personnel to effectively facilitate placing him under house arrest.

Navlakha had moved the top court requesting that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in Taloja jail, Maharashtra. The apex court had imposed several conditions on Navlakha including he shall not use any mobile phone, laptop, communication device or gadget. He shall use the phone provided by police personnel on duty. He will be able to use his phone once a day for 10 minutes in the presence of the police.

NIA had vehemently opposed Navlakha's plea saying his condition has been improved and there was no need to put him under house arrest. Earlier, the apex court had allowed the Superintendent of Taloja prison in Maharashtra to shift jailed activist Navlakha to Mumbai's Jaslok hospital for a medical checkup and treatment. It had said, "Receiving medical treatment is a fundamental right of a prisoner."

70-year-old Navlakha had told the bench that he has colon cancer and requires a colonoscopy and also a check-up for skin allergy and dental issues. Navlakha had moved the top court challenging the April 26 order of the Bombay High Court, which dismissed his plea for house arrest over apprehensions of lack of adequate medical and other basic facilities in Taloja jail near Mumbai where he is currently lodged.

The High Court had said, "Navlakha's apprehensions about the lack of medical aid and inadequate basic facilities at the Taloja prison, were "ill-founded"."

Navlakha, one of the several civil liberties activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for an alleged conspiracy to topple the government.

The probe agency arrested him in April 2020. Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted bail to 82-year-old activist P Varavara Rao in the case. (ANI)