New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the state of Maharashtra over jailed activist Gautam Navlakha’s plea that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in the Elgar-Parishad case.
The 70-year-old activist has appealed to the apex court against the April 26 order of the Bombay High Court dismissing 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 petition came up for hearing before a bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy which issued notices to the NIA and the state seeking their responses. The bench has posted the matter for resumed hearing on September 29.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
The Pune police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with Maoist links. The NIA later took over the probe. During the hearing in the apex court, the counsel for Navlakha said the petitioner had moved the high court on the basis of the top court’s May last year order passed on a plea by the jailed activist.
