Bhima-Koregaon: SC extends activist’s protection from arrest till Oct 15

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service 
New Delhi, October 4

The Supreme Court on Friday extended the interim protection from arrest granted to activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case till October 15.

The protection from arrest was set to expire on Friday.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra asked the Maharashtra government to produce all the material it had against Navlakha on the next date of hearing.

On behalf of the activist, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi pressed for extension of protection from arrest and said the issue of quashing of the FIR in the case could be taken up thereafter.

The Maharashtra Government—which had filed a caveat in the matter to pre-empt any ex-parte order—opposed his plea.

Earlier, as many as five judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of India Ranjan  Gogoi, had  recused themselves from hearing Navlakha’s petition.

Navlakha had challenged the Bombay High Court’s September 13 order rejecting his plea for quashing of an FIR in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.

Besides Navlakha, four other activists were arrested in the case— Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha Bharadwaj. They have been booked under relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The FIR was lodged against Navlakha and others by the Pune police in January 2018 after the Elgar Parishad held on December 31, 2017  had allegedly triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district the next day.

The police have also alleged that Navlakha and other accused in the case had “Maoist links” and were working towards “overthrowing” the government.