More than a week following the Supreme Court’s directive, Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was released from Taloja Central Prison on Saturday. As per the court’s order, he will now be placed under house arrest at a community hall in Navi Mumbai owned by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Navlakha’s release comes a day after the Supreme Court rejected a plea by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to overturn its November 10 decision permitting house arrest and instructed the enforcement of its order within 24 hours. A special court in Mumbai, overseeing NIA-related cases, issued the release memo to facilitate Navlakha’s month-long house arrest, as reported by news agency PTI. The investigating agency submitted a compliance report to the special court detailing the completion of the release formalities for the activist.
The Supreme Court had allowed Navlakha’s house arrest due to his declining health, imposing certain conditions such as CCTV surveillance, phone use restrictions, and no Internet access. The court permitted Navlakha’s partner, Sahba Husain, to stay with him instead of his sister. The NIA expressed security concerns over the chosen premises, arguing that it belonged to the Communist party and was part of a public library, not a flat.
Dismissing the NIA’s objections, the Supreme Court warned the probe agency against finding loopholes to defy the order, emphasizing that it would take a serious view of such actions. To address security concerns raised by the NIA, the court added “additional safeguards” to the previously stipulated conditions.
Responding to the argument that the building was owned by the CPI(M), the court noted that it is a recognized political party in the country. Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court had waived the requirement for a solvency certificate for the 73-year-old activist’s release from Taloja jail for house arrest.
Navlakha faces UAPA charges in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case, which involves alleged inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017. Police claim these speeches triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the following day. The Pune police initially asserted that the conclave was organized by individuals with Maoist links, and later, the NIA took over the investigation.
