Tag: nia bhima koregaon

‘Comical’: HC Slams Prison Officials’ Move to Label Wodehouse Book for Navlakha ‘Security Risk’

The Bombay HC was also unimpressed by the fact that the prosecutor did not address Gautam Navlakha’s allegations of having been denied basic rights in jail.

New Delhi: The Bombay high court has expressed frank surprise at Taloja prison officials’ decision to not allow Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha to access a book by one of the world’s most well-known English humour novelists, P.G. Wodehouse, by calling it a security risk.

Navlakha, one of the 16 activists, journalists and lawyers imprisoned over what the National Investigation Agency has claimed are their connections with the Elgar Parishad violence, was also refused glasses, a chair and other books, LiveLaw has reported.

A division bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and G.A. Sanap took a dim view of the Maharashtra government’s inability to tackle such allegations of highhandedness against the prison officials.

“Can you believe the prison officials didn’t allow Gautam Navlakha a book authored by humorist PG Wodehouse? They said it’s a security risk,” Navlakha’s lawyer Yug Mohit Chaudhry said. Chaudhry was arguing for Navlakha to be granted house arrest.

“PG Wodehouse is considered a security threat? That’s quite comical,” Justice Shukre said. The judge added that Marathi writer Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (popular as ‘Pula Deshpande’), was also inspired by Wodehouse.

Wodehouse’s many books largely dealt with the dour and comedic habits of British people. He died in 1975.

The book eventually reached Navlakha after an order by a trial court’s, Chaudhry said.

The Wire has earlier reported how Navlakha had sought two books, The World Of Jeeves and Wooster by Wodehouse and Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott.

His glasses, too, were only given to him after his family issued a press release and the high court slammed the authorities.

Navlakha’s chronic back pain would have been alleviated with a chair, which was also denied,” his lawyer said.

In addition to having been denied basic rights, Navlakha’s lawyer also highlighted the fact that the circumstance of his incarceration are brutal.

In spite of the fact that Navlakha has no antecedents, was a respected journalist and is in his seventies, a stay in an overcrowded prison with “2,766 inmates despite an official capacity of 2,124” was made out instead of house arrest, Chaudhry said.

He also cited the death of Father Stan Swamy, one of the 16 arrested in the case, who passed away last year after testing positive for COVID-19 while in jail.

“We have seen what has happened to Father Stan. If your lordships (coordinate bench) would have not given Varavara Rao bail, he would have died. He was an inch away from death,” Chaudhry said, adding, “Is this how human beings are treated? This is not a concentration camp.”

While most of the 16 arrested are senior citizens – some with serious medical conditions – poet Varavara Rao the first to be granted bail, on medical grounds, in the case. Later, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was also granted bail. Multiple bail pleas filed by the others have been rejected.

Similar to Navlakha’s case, in early 2021, a special NIA court had to step in to allow Bharadwaj to access five books a month from outside the Byculla prison.

“I don’t want to die like Father Stan. I want to live so that I can clear my name, stand trial and prove my innocence,” Navlakha wrote in a complaint read out by Chaudhry in court.

In the case of Stan Swamy, lawyers had to move the court seeking permission for him to use a straw and sipper in prison to drink water, as he cannot hold a glass because he has Parkinson’s disease. The Taloja jail authorities obliged, but after nearly one month.

The court came down heavily on the prosecutor arguing Taloja Prison officials, noting that he had neither dealt with these allegations in their affidavit and nor was a counsel present in court.

The bench mulled calling in the Additional Chief Secretary in charge of prisons, LiveLaw has reported.

“This is not right. The way the state’s affidavit has been filed. Allegations are not dealt with,” Justice Shukre said.

The judge said that the prison officials’ reply offers the impressions that the allegations of negligence are true and asked the AG to look into the matter.

State Counsel Sangeeta Shinde eventually appeared and said an apology would be given in writing.

Bombay HC Asks NIA to File Reply on Sudha Bharadwaj’s Bail Plea

Bharadwaj had sought default bail, contending the trial judge was not authorised to take cognisance of the 2019 charge sheet filed against her.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday, June 22, directed the National Investigation Agency to file its affidavit by July 3 in response to the bail petition of activist Sudha Bharadwaj, in jail since August 28, 2018.

Bharadwaj is one of 16 that the National Investigation Agency has incarcerated as accused in the Elgar Parishad case and booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Bharadwaj had sought default bail, contending the trial judge was not authorised to take cognisance of the 2019 charge sheet filed against her, as the judge was at that time not designated as special judge under the NIA Act to hear matters pertaining to the UAPA.

A division bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar on Tuesday directed NIA’s advocate Sandesh Patil to file an affidavit in response to the petition and posted the matter for further hearing on July 3.

As The Wire has reported before, in her petition, Bharadwaj relied on documents received from the high court under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to demonstrate that the court of Additional Sessions Judge Kishor Vadane in Pune was not authorised to take cognisance of the 1,800-page supplementary charge sheet filed by the Pune police in February 2019.

“This judge was not designated as a special NIA judge at the time and hence, could not have taken cognisance of the charge sheet. We are also challenging an earlier order passed by this judge in November 2018 granting the police time to file the charge sheet,” Bharadwaj’s counsel Yug Chaudhry argued.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the ”Elgar Parishad” conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which Pune Police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city”s outskirts. Police have also claimed Maoist links to the incident.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) later took over the probe into the case.

(With PTI inputs)

‘Trial Judge Not Authorised’: Sudha Bharadwaj Moves Bombay HC For Default Bail

Additional Sessions Judge Kishor Vadane, Bharadwaj has argued in her plea, was not authorised to take cognisance of Pune Police’s supplementary chargesheet against her under the NIA Act.

New Delhi: Sudha Bharadwaj, one of the 16 held over what law enforcement believes is their connection with the Elgar Parishad case, has approached the Bombay high court seeking default bail over the contention that the trial judge was not authorised to take cognisance of a 2019 chargesheet against her.

LiveLaw has reported that Bharadwaj, a lawyer and activist, has sought to demonstrate in an application filed under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure that the court of Additional Sessions Judge Kishor Vadane was not authorised to take cognisance of Pune Police’s supplementary chargesheet against her.

The section of the CrPC stipulates on jurisdiction of a judge and limitations this places on the nature of orders she can make.

Bharadwaj has cited Right to Information request replies to support her point. She has pleaded that this means that the judge could not have granted the Pune Police an extension to file the chargesheet either. The case is now being investigated by the National Investigation Agency.

The extension was granted on November 26, 2018, and Pune Police filed the chargesheet on February 21, 2019.

Bharadwaj’s plea says that the Additional Sessions Judge’s court was not the designated special court under the National Investigation Agency Act, which has exclusive jurisdiction to try scheduled offences, including those under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Justice Sarang Kotwal, hearing the plea on Friday, asked for the petition to be placed before a division bench, LiveLaw reported.

In May, family members of the activists jailed in the Elgar Parishad case, including Sudha Bharadwaj’s, wrote a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking their release from prisons in view of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, Bharadwaj’s family had expressed grave worry at her condition and the deterioration of her health in jail.

Last year, as the first wave of the pandemic raged the National Investigation Agency had said that the aged trade unionist who suffers from diabetes and hypertension has been “taking undue benefit of the pandemic” in appealing for bail and opposed her plea.

NIA Court Allows Jailed Activist Sudha Bharadwaj to Access Five Books a Month

Special judge D.E. Kothalikar said the lawyer will be allowed to access books from outside the Byculla prison, but only after the superintendent “carefully” examines them for “objectionable content”.

New Delhi: A special NIA court has allowed lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who is in custody for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case, to access five books a month from outside the Byculla prison.

According to a report in The Hindu, special judge D.E. Kothalikar directed the Byculla district prison’s superintendent to “carefully examine the books” for objectionable content.

“The Superintendent shall carefully examine the books and if they contain objectionable material, which preaches violence, vulgar, obscene, pornographic or the material propagating the banned organisation namely Revolutionary Democratic Front or CPI (Maoist), in that case he shall not allow the applicant [Bharadwaj] to accept such books,” the court said.

Bharadwaj is among several activists and lawyers who were arrested by the Pune Police in the Elgar Parishad case in 2018. In 2020, the case was transferred to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which has subsequently arrested more activists and academics, with the most recent ones being Delhi University professor Hany Babu and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy.

In November, a parcel containing two kurtas and one book for Bharadwaj was sent to the prison. However, the prison authorities removed the book, The Empire of Cotton by Sten Backert from the parcel. The following month, lawyers representing Bharadwaj along with co-accused in the Elgar Parishad case, Babu and Gautam Navlakha, approached the special NIA court seeking access to books and newspapers in prison.

Navlakha sought two books, The World Of Jeeves and Wooster by P.G. Wodehouse and Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott while Babu asked for A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh and Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin.

The Bombay high court slammed Taloja prison officials in early December 2020 when they refused to accept new spectacles that were sent by his family in a courier. Navlakha has very poor eyesight and is near blind without the aid of his prescription glasses.

The court had said that there is a need to conduct a workshop for jail officials to sensitise them on the needs of prisoners.

In the case of Stan Swamy, lawyers had to move the court seeking permission for him to use a straw and sipper in prison to drink water, as he cannot hold a glass because he has Parkinson’s disease. The Taloja jail authorities obliged, but after nearly one month.

Also read: Arnab Goswami and Varavara Rao, Unequal Citizens Before the Law

On Wednesday, the Bombay high court heard a plea by Varavara Rao’s wife and asked the NIA and the state prison authorities to take into account the age and health of the Telugu poet. “The petitioner is above 80. Keep in mind his age and health conditions. While making submissions on the bail plea, reflect on his health. We are all humans, this is an issue about his health,” Justice Shinde said.

A file image of Varavara Rao.

The plea said that prison authorities had neglected to provide the 80-year-old with appropriate medical attention since 2018.

In November last year, the high court had allowed Rao to seek treatment in Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital for 15 days which was later extended by the court. It observed that Rao was almost on his death bed and deserved proper care.

During his time in jail, Rao has sustained a head injury, tested positive for COVID-19 and is possibly suffering from dementia. Family members have said that his weight has dropped drastically.

Supreme Court Refuses to Entertain Sudha Bharadwaj’s Bail Plea

“You have a good case on merits. Why don’t you file a regular bail application?” the bench said, in response to a petition seeking bail on medical grounds.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea seeking bail to lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who has been detained in the Bhima Koregaon case that is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A bench comprising Justices U.U. Lalit and Ajay Rastogi dismissed as withdrawn the plea filed by Bharadwaj.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the activist has been in jail for over two years and charges have not been not framed in the case.

Nothing has been recovered from the petitioner and no incriminating material found, she said.

Referring to her health condition, the lawyer said Bharadwaj is suffering from diabetes and other comorbidities.

“They are giving me medicine but several tests are required. Grant me interim bail. I will get diagnosed myself and thereafter surrender myself,” she said.

The apex court noted that a bail plea is pending in the high court.

Grover said that she sought the court’s indulgence to get checked and the tests cannot happen in the jail hospital.

“You have a good case on merits. Why don’t you file a regular bail application?” the bench said.

The court then said, “either you withdraw it or we will dismiss it” and suggested that a regular bail plea can be filed.

The plea was then withdrawn.

Bharadwaj, 58, had earlier approached the Bombay high court seeking bail, saying that she suffered from chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

She had said comorbidities put her at a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus while at the Byculla women’s prison, where an inmate had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.

The court, however, had noted the submissions made by the NIA and the Maharashtra government that the prison authorities were taking all precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and that they were providing necessary medical care to Bharadwaj for her comorbidities.

On August 21, pursuant to a high court order, the state government had submitted a report stating that Bharadwaj had been examined in the prison by a medical officer and that her health condition was found to be “stable and satisfactory”.

The report stated that Bharadwaj’s vital health parameters were stable although she had been suffering from mild depression and had complained of body ache.

The state said that Bharadwaj had been given medication for dizziness and had been advised to continue medicines for her chronic conditions.

Bharadwaj has been lodged in the Byculla women’s prison since September 2018 following her arrest in the case.

Elgar Parishad Case: NIA Summons Three Lawyers for Questioning

Among those summoned are Nihalsing Rathod, the defence lawyer for some of the accused in the case, and Viplav Teltumbde.

Mumbai: After questioning several academics and activists, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has now issued summons to three lawyers in the Elgar Parishad case. Among the three lawyers summoned to appear before the agency’s Mumbai office on August 28 are Nihalsing Rathod, Viplav Teltumbde and a Nagpur-based lawyer who doesn’t want his identity to be revealed.

Rathod, a 33-year old Nagpur-based lawyer who is engaged as a defence lawyer for several accused arrested in the case, says he received a call from the NIA followed by a notice sent through an email. Until 2018, Rathod had worked as a junior lawyer to Surendra Gadling, an expert in anti-terror laws and a prominent lawyer in Nagpur. After Gadling was arrested on June 6, 2018, in the Elgar Parishad case, Rathod represented him and other arrested accused.

Defence lawyers, by virtue of their relationship with their clients, are privy to information and strategies that are crucial for the case. In this situation, summoning Rathod for questioning not only makes him vulnerable but also his clients, he says. Rathod told The Wire that he has sought time to appear before the NIA since one of his relatives is seriously ill and he needs to be available in his hometown in case of an emergency. He has been asked to appear before the NIA’s office in Mumbai at 11 am on Friday.

Rathod is known for his work in the field of human rights. Rathod identifies as an “Ambedkarite activist” and belongs to a denotified tribe. His work has largely focussed on the issues of nomadic and denotified tribes in Maharashtra. Along with being associated with many civil rights organisations, Rathod also co-founded ‘Sangharsh Wahini Bhatke Vimukt Sangharsh Parishad’, an organisation working for socio-political rights of nomadic and denotified tribes.

Advocate Nihalsing Rathod. Photo: The Wire

This is not the first time that investigating agencies have trained their focus on Rathod. His name first emerged in a letter that the case’s previous investigating agency, Pune police, had claimed to have found from another accused in the case Sudha Bharadwaj, also an advocate. The letter, according to the state police was written by “comrade Sudha” to “comrade Prakash” elaborating the readiness of several lawyers to take “responsibility and risk” and fight cases of those implicated in cases of Naxalism. In the letter, Bharadwaj purportedly wrote that the lawyers, including Rathod, were ready to act as “couriers”, gathering information from “comrades attending court cases”.

The letter also mentions Viplav Teltumbde, who has also been summoned for questioning.

Defence lawyers in the case, however, had denied the police’s allegations and had in fact identified inconsistencies in the letter. Several words in those letters, allegedly found from Bharadwaj and another accused and prisoners’ rights activist Rona Wilson, were in Marathi. Neither Bharadwaj nor Wilson speak or write Marathi.

Alleged letter written by Sudha Bhardwaj by The Wire on Scribd

In the past year, it was revealed that Rathod was one of more than 100 journalists and human rights activists in India who were targeted for surveillance by operators using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus. Rathod’s email account was also attacked by a malware and a detailed joint investigation conducted by Amnesty International’s digital team based in Berlin and The Citizen Lab, a research organisation which works out of the University of Toronto, found that the email was part of a larger surveillance conspiracy “specially crafted to bait journalists or activists”.

Also Read: Bhima Koregaon: Amid Demands For Fresh Probe, A Hard Look at the Case’s Discrepancies

Why is advocate Viplav Teltumbde summoned?

Viplav says the only reason why he is frequently a target of the investigative agencies is his family name. “Earlier, it would be because of my uncle Milind Teltumbde and now, in this case, it is because of another uncle, Anand Teltumbde,” he says. Milind Teltumbde is believed to be a top-rung leader of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation and has allegedly been involved in several underground movements since 1996. Anand Teltumbde is a senior academic and civil rights activist who was recently arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.

“The last time I was in touch with Milind kaaka was in 1996. That’s the year he left everything behind and went away from the family. Since then, I haven’t been in touch with him,” Viplav says. He continues to live in his family house in Wani. Milind and Anand Teltumbde’s mother also lives with him.

Viplav Teltumbde. Photo: By arrangement

Viplav, a practising lawyer since 2006, was arrested in 2004 while he was a final-year law student in Yavatmal district of northeastern Maharashtra. Viplav was accused of involvement in the “Naxal movement” and booked in five separate cases—one in Wani, Yavatmal district, another in Chandrapur and two cases in Bhandara district. It took him three years to get his name cleared in all the cases.

“Those were sedition charges levelled against me and several other students in the region. I was arrested and kept in Nagpur central prisons for three months while I was still a student,” he recalls. His cases were handled by advocate Gadling.

While no new cases were registered against him since 2007, Viplav claims harassment by the state police has not stopped. “In the past two years, particularly after the Elgar Parishad investigation began, the police have targeted my clients and forced them to give information about me. Some of them were also tortured,” he alleges.

Viplav had defended civil rights activist and lawyer Arun Ferreira in 2011. Ferreira, a member of the Deshbhakti Yuva Manch (Forum for Patriotic Youth), was accused of being involved in Naxal activities and arrested in 2006. He was, later, acquitted of all charges. Viplav says he was in the team of defence lawyers who had taken up Ferreira’s case. After being acquitted of all charges, Ferreira went on to study law and was practising in Mumbai when he was once again arrested in 2018 in the Elgar Parishad case.

The recent summons sent by NIA is puzzling, Viplav says, as he has not been involved either in the Elgar Parishad event or in the defence team following the arrests of activists and lawyers. “I hadn’t even visited Bhima Koregaon until recently. In 2019, out of curiosity, I decided to visit Bhima Koregaon to just find out what is this place all about,” he says.

Also Read: Elgar Parishad Case: NIA Raids Miranda House Teacher Jenny Rowena’s Residence

Elgar Parishad case

The first round of arrests in the Elgar Parishad case had begun in June 2018, with the arrests of Sudhir Dhawale, a writer and Mumbai-based Dalit rights activist, Surendra Gadling, a UAPA expert and lawyer from Nagpur, Mahesh Raut, a young activist on displacement issues from Gadchiroli, Shoma Sen, a university professor and head of the English literature department at Nagpur University, Rona Wilson, a Delhi-based prisoners’ rights activist.

In the second round of arrests in August 2018, advocate Arun Ferreira, advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, writer Varavara Rao and Vernon Gonsalves were taken into custody.

Top row (from left): Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut; Middle row: Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Row; Bottom row: Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Rona Wilson

In November that year, the Pune police filed its first chargesheet in the case, which ran over 5,000 pages. The police had claimed that those arrested had “active links” with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and had helped organise the ‘Elgar Parishad’ of December 31, 2017, under the banner of the ‘Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerana Abhiyan’ in Pune.

The police’s case is that this cultural gathering in Pune’s Shaniwarwada area, known to be a predominantly Brahmin hub, had incited Dalit youth across Maharashtra against the Bharatiya Janata Party and ‘Brahmin-oriented Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’, leading to violent retaliation across the state. The speeches given at the Elgar Parishad were allegedly inflammatory, and carried the intention of “harming the democratic fabric of the country”.

A supplementary chargesheet was filed later in February 2019 and the state police had claimed that fugitive Maoist leader Ganapathy is the mastermind of the Elgar Parishad.

Also Read: Elgar Parishad Case Accused Take Devendra Fadnavis, Two Hindutva Leaders to Court

While the initial investigation was handled by the Pune police, as soon as the BJP government fell, the Ministry of Home Affairs suddenly transferred the case to the NIA in January. After taking the case over, the NIA has arrested academics Anand Teltumbde and Hany Babu and activist Gautam Navlakha.

So far, 12 people – all activists, lawyers and academics – have been arrested in the case so far. The accused insist that they are being implicated in the case, while rights organisations have criticised the government’s actions as stifling dissent.

NPR, Bhima Koregaon Case Sow First Seeds of Difference Within Maha Vikas Aghadi

Until now, the coalition partners have so far ensured that any disagreement between the three does not get out of hand.

Differences between the partners in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in the state have emerged over two recent decisions taken by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Though criticism by the partners has remained subdued, the Nationalist Congress Party has left no doubt that it is unhappy with Thackeray’s moves.

Though all the three partners have been keen to proclaim publicly that there is no rift, or any danger to the coalition, both the Congress and the NCP have been getting restive at the Shiv Sena’s initiatives on key issues, on all of which the others have strong opinions.

The NCP and Congress are firmly opposed to the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act and its related processes, which includes the National Population Register drive, which begins in May. The Congress has called the NPR, the “NRC in disguise” and Thackeray too had said earlier that no citizen in Maharashtra would be affected.

A few days ago, the state government did a U-turn over its stand on the Centre’s move to have the National Investigative Agency take over the Elgar Parishad case, as part of which several activists have been held for over a year on charges of sedition.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. Photo: Twitter/@OfficeofUT

Just before the NIA took it over, there was speculation that the accused would get bail; that was effectively stymied by the Centre.

Thackeray and the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamana, criticised the move but a few days later, agreed to hand it over to the NIA without any objection. Home minister Anil Deshmukh said he had objected to this, but had been overruled.

Also read: ‘Centre’s Decision to Hand Bhima Koregaon to NIA Unconstitutional’: Maha Home Minister

Last week, Thackeray called a meeting of senior bureaucrats for a briefing on the preparation of the door-to-door enumeration process under the National Population Register, which is being assumed to be a key component of the entire CAA-NRC process which has drawn massive protests all over the country. A large rally was held in Mumbai just on Saturday where speakers such as Abu Azmi, an MLA of the Samajwadi Party, declared that people not allow NPR teams to enter their homes.

Thackeray’s open endorsement for it, after indicating he was against CAA-NRC, has upset his partners considerably. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has reportedly conveyed his displeasure to Thackeray and on Saturday, the chief minister made it a point to declare that the BJP’s attempts to destablise his government will not work.

That is not likely for now, since the local BJP is in disarray following it loss in the state elections and the clumsy attempt to form a government with NCP’s Ajit Pawar which failed spectacularly and in full public view.

It has put paid to Devendra Fadnavis’s political ambitions for now and others, like former minister Eknath Khadse, have not succeeded in stepping into the breach, though not for want of trying.

The coalition partners thus have no immediate threat from outside, but have to consolidate their own house.

The three parties come from disparate ideological backgrounds and though each one is making special efforts to make adjustments, there is discomfort in all three at having to do so with others. The NCP and the Congress have an old relationship and overlap on broad issues, but the latter is always wary of Sharad Pawar. The Congress, also, is deeply uncomfortable of supping with the Sena, while within the latter, many influential leaders would rather be back with the BJP.

All three are in an arrangement of mutual benefit, but each knows of the innate problems of such a coalition.

Still, with considerable goodwill and with a common goal of keeping the BJP out, it is likely that they will stick together for the time being. Many observers feel that if they can continue with minimal hiccups for at least two years, they could make a big difference. The social atmosphere has certainly improved and the public protests, which have been held without much problems is a refreshing breath of fresh air in comparison with other BJP ruled states where governments have reacted against protestors with ferocity.

The Shiv Sena is also watching Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena closely.

Also read: Raj Thackeray’s Right Turn is Dangerous. Here’s Why it Is Likely to Fail

After attacking Narendra Modi bitterly during the run up to the May 2019 generation elections, Raj has now gone full saffron, even changing his multi-coloured flag to that colour. He has begun talking in public about Hindutva and his party’s latest vigilante action against Muslims in the northern Mumbai suburbs where residents were asked for their citizenship documents, has set alarm bells ringing.

Uddhav Thackeray, who is aware that many of his followers are pro-Modi and pro-Hindutva, could be worried that his cousin will woo away such partymen. That has to be nipped in the bud and the chief minister’s pro-NPR announcement could be to pre-empt any bid by Raj to criticise the state government.

The coalition partners have so far ensured that any disagreement between the three does not get out of hand – statements are quickly issued to express unity.

But this is no permanent solution – unless there is complete agreement on key policy issues such as the NPR, the differences could tear the coalition apart. The next few months will be crucial.

‘Centre’s Decision to Hand Bhima Koregaon to NIA Unconstitutional’: Maha Home Minister

The case was taken over by the NIA while the state government was in the process of forming a special investigation team to take another look at the Pune police’s investigation.

Mumbai: Crushing any hope that the Maharashtra state government may release the rights activists and lawyers implicated in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday abruptly decided to hand the investigations over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The NIA Act allows the department to take over any investigations related to “scheduled offences” and the state has little role to play, leave alone decline permission.

On January 22, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar met the Pune police and the state intelligence officials for a review meeting on the case. Soon after the meeting, Deshmukh announced that by the next week, his department would take a decision on whether a Special Investigation Team (SIT) needs to be constituted to look into the investigation.

But even before the state could act upon its announcement, the Union home ministry decided to take the case away from the Maharashtra police. Nine activists and lawyers have been languishing in jail since June 2018 over allegations of being active members of the “urban Naxal” movement.

The Pune police had claimed that the accused had conspired and instigated the gathering at Bhima Koregaon, 30 kilometres off Pune city, which had led to violence. Several others, including professor Anand Teltumbde, right activist Gautam Navalakha, cultural activists from Kabir Kala Manch have been named in the earlier FIR and are yet to be arrested.

Those arrested include Sudhir Dhawale, a writer and Mumbai-based Dalit rights activist, Surendra Gadling, a UAPA expert and lawyer from Nagpur, Mahesh Raut, a young activist on displacement issues from Gadchiroli, Shoma Sen, a university professor and head of the English literature department at Nagpur University, Rona Wilson, a Delhi-based prisoners’ rights activist, advocate Arun Ferreira, advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, writer Varavara Rao and Vernon Gonsalves. While the first five were arrested on June 6, others’ arrests followed.

Top row (from left): Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut; Middle row: Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Row; Bottom row: Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Rona Wilson

According to the Pune police’s investigation, led by ACP Shivaji Pawar, the accused hatched a conspiracy to assassinate prime minister Narendra Modi in a “Rajiv Gandhi style execution”. This, the police had claimed on the basis of one letter allegedly found on the computer of one of the arrested persons.

Also Read: The People’s Fighters: Meet the Five Arrested in the Bhima Koregaon Case

In November, soon after the tri-party government comprising the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress took over, they have on several occasions hinted at the possibility of revisiting the investigation into the case. During the winter assembly session, NCP leader and state cabinet minister for housing Jitendra Awhad had accused the former BJP government, led by Devendra Fadnavis, of wrongly targeting rights activists and falsely branding them as “urban Naxals”. Within weeks, NCP chief Sharad Pawar too spoke in favour of those arrested and demanded a fresh probe.

Early this month, Pawar sent two separate letters to the home department seeking the formation of an SIT. The Centre, however, decided to strike back before the state could react.

The NIA, unlike other investigative agencies, doesn’t need sanction from the state government. While the Act allows the involvement of the state government in the investigation, this decision is entirely dependent on the centre.

“Centre’s decision is unconstitutional”

As soon as news about the probe being handed over to the NIA broke, several NCP and Congress leaders in Maharashtra called the decision “unconstitutional”. State home minister Anil Deshmukh who was on his way to Gondia stopped by to call an urgent press briefing, where he said that the Centre has acted in an arbitrary manner.

“Right when the state government decided to go to the root of the matter, the Centre decided to step in,” he said. “It is wrong for the Centre to go ahead and take over a state-led investigation without keeping them (the state government) in the loop, leave alone taking their permission,” he further added.


Awhad claimed that the Centre’s decision is a direct attack on the Constitution. “It is a direct attack on the constitution, the federal structure and the autonomy of the state,” he said.

Speaking to media in Mumbai on Saturday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, “The state has all the right to probe this matter. What was the reason to transfer the case in haste? They were afraid that the truth will come out.”

NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase asked, “What is the BJP afraid of? Why have they suddenly lost faith in the Maharashtra Police?”

Revenue minister and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat tweeted that the state government was not consulted before the decision. “Without consulting the Maharashtra government, the decision of the Central Government, abruptly handing over the Bhima Koregaon case to the NIA is unconstitutional and against the federal structure of the Union of India. We strongly condemn it,” he said.

Nihalsing Rathod, defence lawyer in the case, said that the Pune police have held the nine arrested activists for over 18 months. “The chargesheet relies heavily on digital evidence, which has not been made available to them till date. The defence lawyers and the media, in their independent investigations, have clearly established a pattern of lies weaved to keep the arrested activists in custody,” he said.

When the new state government was showing signs of having another look at at the case, the BJP is attempting to suppress the truth and “directly meddle into the state’s investigation”, he said. Rathod called the move “a direct attack on the Constitution and the federal structure”.

Multiple Discrepancies

There have been several apparent inconsistencies and discrepancies in the Pune police’s investigation. The Wire on December 21, had published a detailed report on several anomalies in the evidence that the Pune police have relied upon. There are several obvious instances of digital tampering in the purported evidence gathered from the computers and hard disks of two of the prime accused, Gadling and Wilson.

Also Read: Bhima Koregaon: Amid Demands For Fresh Probe, A Hard Look at the Case’s Discrepancies

The National Investigation Act was brought in by the Congress-led UPA government in 2008, after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Though the agency was set up to look into terror cases, it has been accused of being misused by the Central government for political gains.

On January 15, the state of Chhattisgarh filed a suit in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the NIA Act.