The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated its willingness to allow human rights activist Gautam Navlakha to relocate to his own house in Delhi until the commencement of the trial in the high-profile Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. The court observed that the 73-year-old was not a flight risk and had been uprooted from his life in Delhi.
Court Recognizes Hardship, Dismisses Flight Risk Concerns
A bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam Chandak heard the plea filed by Navlakha after the special NIA court rejected his request to stay in Delhi. The High Court noted that there was no evidence to suggest Navlakha was a flight risk, as he had never attempted to evade the legal process. The bench acknowledged his argument that he felt compelled to stay in Mumbai and was completely disconnected from his social circle and life in Delhi, his hometown.
Navlakha's senior counsel, Yug Chaudhary, presented the financial and personal hardships faced by his client. Since being granted bail in 2023, Navlakha has been living in rented accommodations in Mumbai, a city where he has no permanent base. Chaudhary argued that the prolonged delay in the trial's start was pushing the elderly activist toward financial ruin. "He cannot afford to stay in Mumbai. The trial in the case is simply not beginning. If it continues like this then he will go bankrupt," Chaudhary submitted before the court.
Proposed Conditions for the Shift
The counsel proposed a solution, assuring the court that Navlakha would attend the trial proceedings via video conference from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) office in Delhi. He further committed that Navlakha would appear physically before the trial court in Mumbai whenever directed by the court or even if requested by the prosecutor.
While the bench clarified that it would not permit Navlakha to attend the entire trial from Delhi, it expressed its inclination to allow him to shift to the national capital until the trial formally begins. The court asked the NIA to specify the conditions it wished to impose on Navlakha for this arrangement and scheduled the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.
Background of the Elgar Parishad Case
The case, investigated by the NIA, stems from an event held at Pune's Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017. The agency alleges that the event featured provocative speeches that incited people and promoted enmity between caste groups, leading to violence and statewide agitation. The NIA has accused Navlakha of being a co-conspirator who was involved in propagating Maoist activities and ideology under the instructions of members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The Bombay High Court's tentative decision offers temporary relief to Navlakha, allowing him to reside in his own home in Delhi while awaiting the start of a trial that has seen significant delays.
