Mumbai: The advocate of activist Father Stan Swamy, who was arrested for alleged connection to the Elgar Parishad case, on Friday told a special court that Swamy has been given a straw and sipper by the Taloja jail authorities.
Swamy (83) on Friday moved the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking return of his bag (seized by it at the time of his arrest), a clone copy of his hard disk (seized by it) and a direction to not transfer him from Taloja jail. According to Bar and Bench, advocate Sharif Shaikh appearing for Swamy, claimed that Swamy had heard from a jail official that he may be transferred to another jail.
Swamy, who is suffering from various health ailments including Parkinson’s disease, was arrested on October 8 by the NIA.
Last month, he had filed an application seeking the NIA to return the straw and sipper allegedly seized from him at the time of his arrest.
The NIA, however, told the court last month that it had not seized a straw and sipper from Swamy and hence there was no question of returning those items to him.
Swamy then filed an application seeking a direction to the jail authorities to provide him a straw and sipper and winter clothes.
On November 26, the special NIA court had directed the jail superintendent to file his reply on the application.
On Friday, Swami’s advocate Sharif Shaikh told special NIA Judge, D.E. Kothalikar, that Swamy has been provided with straw and sipper and winter clothes by the jail authorities.
Swamy had also filed a bail plea on medical grounds.
The court had sought a report from the Taloja prison on his health condition. On Friday, the jail authorities told the court that they need time to submit the report, following which the court posted the matter for further hearing on December 10. The court said it would also hear the three new applications filed by Swamy on the same day.
NIA’s lawyer Prakash Shetty told the court that the agency does not have any items belonging to Swamy.
As per NIA, Swamy was involved in the activities of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation and had received funds through an associate for furthering Maoist agenda. He was also the convener of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC), a frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist), the NIA claimed.
(With inputs from PTI)