Maoist leader’s defence counsel moves plea

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 8

The defence counsel for Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy, who had been facing charges under Unlawful Activities 

Prevention Act (UAPA), today moved an application before the court of Additional Sessions and District Judge Mohammad Gulzar, seeking permission to let Ghandy appear before the court through videoconferencing from Hyderabad jail, where he is at present lodged.

During the last hearing, when Ghandy was lodged at the Tihar Jail, the defence counsel had moved a similar application before the court.

Ghandy had been booked by the Patiala Sadar police in January 2010 under Sections 10, 13, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Sections 419 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for holding meetings on the premises of Punjabi University in April and May 2009 to promote Maoist ideologies.

Ghandy, a politburo member of the banned CPI (Maoist), was arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2009. 

He had later moved a bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was rejected.

The maoist leader had pleaded that he was booked for delivering a lecture on  the campus of Punjabi University in April and May in 2009 and at that time the CPI (Maoist) was not banned. 

The CPI (Maoist) was banned in June 22, 2009, he had argued.