The Bombay High Court has allowed Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha to shift from Mumbai to his Delhi residence while making it clear that he must attend trial proceedings whenever required.
The Court imposed strict conditions, including weekly police reporting, surrender of passport, and prior permission to leave Delhi.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad–Maoist links case, to shift from Mumbai to his residence in Delhi. However, the Court made it clear that Navlakha will have to return to Mumbai whenever required to attend trial proceedings before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court.
A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam Chandak permitted him to relocate but imposed strict conditions to ensure his presence during the trial.
The Court directed Navlakha to mark his attendance every Saturday at a local police station in Delhi, surrender his passport, and not leave Delhi without prior permission from the special court.
The bench further clarified that Navlakha must personally appear before the special NIA court at the time of framing of charges and attend all subsequent hearings unless he is specifically exempted.
While recognising his right to personal liberty, the High Court underlined that Navlakha is still facing trial and therefore is not “a free man yet.”
During the hearing, Navlakha’s counsel, senior advocate Yug Chaudhary, requested the Court to relax the condition of weekly reporting to the police station. He argued that earlier, Navlakha was required to mark his presence only once a month.
However, the High Court rejected this request and held that the existing conditions were necessary at this stage of the case to safeguard the trial process.
A day earlier, the High Court had orally observed that Navlakha did not appear to be “a flight risk,” noting that there had been no instance of him trying to escape or avoid the legal process.
Navlakha was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in 2023, but at that time, he was not allowed to leave Mumbai without prior permission from the trial court.
Earlier this year, he approached the special NIA court seeking permission to stay in Delhi. He cited financial difficulties and pointed out that the trial was not likely to begin in the near future.
After the special court rejected his request, he moved the Bombay High Court, which has now partly allowed his plea by permitting him to reside in Delhi under strict conditions.
The National Investigation Agency has accused Gautam Navlakha of being a co-conspirator who allegedly propagated Maoist ideology and activities on the instructions of senior leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The case relates to the Elgar Parishad event held at Pune’s Shaniwarwada on December 31, 2017, which was organised by the Kabir Kala Manch.
The event was followed by violent incidents at Koregaon-Bhima on January 1, 2018, leading to loss of life and damage to property, and causing widespread unrest across Maharashtra.
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Investigating agencies have alleged that provocative speeches made during the event led to hatred and tension between different caste groups.
The case was initially registered by the Pune police in 2018 and was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency. So far, 16 persons, including lawyers, activists, and academics, have been arrested in the case for allegedly working to further the objectives of the banned CPI (Maoist).
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