New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday listed the hearing of a fresh plea by activist Gautam Navlakha for Friday, highlighting that the directions by the apex court of transferring him to house arrest have not been complied with so far. The 70-year-old activist was arrested by the NIA in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case that dates back to 2018 and has not been shifted to house arrest despite the apex court's directions.
The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior lawyer Adv Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha. "The officials were supposed to inspect premises within 96 hours and put Navlakha under house arrest. And the order was given on November 10. Why is it not complied with yet?" asked Justice Chandrachud.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the directions are not followed because the accused Navlakha has given the address of a library from where the Communist Party operates instead of giving the address of his house. "He (Navlakha) is a Maoist and we objected to it. But now, instead of his residence, he has given the address of a library cum office of the communist party," Mehta said.
"Nowhere is it mentioned that the address given is that of a library," Adv Ramakrishnan objected, to which Mehta responded, addressing Justice Chandrachud, "The NIA is also seeking directions on the matter. Please list it for Monday." Mehta also said that a separate plea would also be filed.
The top court said both the pleas of the probe agency and the accused will be listed together before a bench headed by Justice K M Joseph. The top court had on November 10 allowed Navlakha to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.
