Tag: Justice G A Sanap

Elgar Parishad Case: Bombay HC Allows Accused Anand Teltumbde to Leave Jail, Meet his Mother

The court noted that the activist was allowed to leave prison given that his brother and alleged Naxal leader Milind Teltumbde was killed in an encounter in November last year.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday, March 2, permitted activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case, to visit his mother in Chandrapur for two days, in view of the death of his brother and alleged Naxal leader, Milind Teltumbde.

Teltumbde is presently lodged at Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai, as an undertrial in the Elgar Parishad case.

A bench of Justices S.B. Shukre and G.A. Sanap partly allowed Teltumbde’s plea, filed through senior counsel Mihir Desai, and permitted him to visit his mother from March 8-10, in view of the death of his brother Milind, who was killed in an ambush in November last year.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had objected to the activist’s plea, saying that Milind Teltumbde was a known Maoist leader and had been involved in illegal activities.

Also read: Why Is Anand Teltumbde So Dangerous for the Narendra Modi Government?

“The seriousness is that the person who has died was a wanted accused who was killed in an ambush,” NIA counsel Sandesh Patil told the court.

To this the bench, however, said that death was death, irrespective of the activities the deceased might have been involved in.

“A death is a death. He may be an accused, he (Milind) may have been involved in activities, but then ultimately he was the present applicant’s (Anand) brother. There has been a loss of human life,” the court observed.

The court said Teltumbde can meet his mother during the day between March 8 and 10, with a police escort, and the cost of the escort must be borne by the state government.

“The applicant is allowed to meet his mother in Chandrapur on March 8 and 9. To achieve the purpose of meeting his mother, he shall be taken with police escort with appropriate bandobast in a manner so as to reach Chandrapur by morning or afternoon of March 8. Thereafter, the applicant shall leave Chandrapur along with police escort on March 10 at an appropriate time and if some time is available before leaving, the applicant shall be permitted to meet his mother on March 10, if possible,” the court said.

“Teltumbde will be brought back to Taloja jail on March 11,” it stated.

The high court also issued notices to the NIA on two other pleas filed by the activist challenging certain provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), including the stringent bail conditions under the Act and the misuse of the term ‘frontal organisations’ by the central agencies.

The court will hear these pleas further next month.

(PTI)

Bombay HC Asks if Prison Conditions Have Improved for Varavara Rao to Be Sent Back

Rao was granted temporary medical bail by the high court in February 2021 for a period of six months. He later filed a plea seeking permanent bail on the grounds of ill-health.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday extended the bail granted on health grounds to poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case, till March 8.

It also sought to know if the conditions at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai had improved.

A division bench of Justices S.B. Shukre and G.A. Sanap said if the conditions had not improved then the accused (Rao) would be exposed to more diseases if he was sent back there.

Rao was granted temporary medical bail by the high court in February 2021 for a period of six months.

The octogenarian later filed an application seeking extension of the bail, and subsequently another plea seeking permanent bail on the grounds of ill-health.

The high court has since September 2021 extended his time to surrender several times.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, representing Rao, submitted that the attitude of the prosecution must change and their endeavour cannot be to keep an accused in the prison at the cost of his health pending trial.

Rao’s co-accused Father Stan Swamy, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, died in hospital while his medical bail plea was pending, the lawyer pointed out.

“He (Swamy) would not have died had he not been put in prison. You (prosecution) put someone in a position that there is no going back. The attitude of the prosecution has to be that they should try their best to get the prisoner for trial. It should not be that whatever happens to him in prison is fine,” he argued.

Also read: How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing 

Justice Shukre then asked why Rao was granted bail only for six months, and whether the high court order was challenged by the parties.

“Because he is 82 years old, he may be drug resistant. In six months will the Taloja prison improve? He will be exposed to more diseases,” the judge remarked.

A bench led by Justice S.S. Shinde, on February 22, 2021, while granting temporary relief to Rao, had observed that the hospital attached to the Taloja Central Prison and the jail ward of JJ Hospital were ill-equipped and inadequate to take care of Rao’s health, and sending him back to the prison would certainly endanger his life and would run the risk of deterioration of his health to the point of no return .

With the kind of observations in the high court order, prima facie we do not see any scope of review (unless proved otherwise by prosecution). And this order has attained finality, Justice Shukre remarked.

The court will continue to hear the case on March 8.

(PTI)