Culpable Criminal, Before Decision? Gautam Navlakha

Gautam Navlakha gets Supreme Court relief, to be placed under house arrest.

Asserting that Gautam Navlakha is “in touch with Kashmiri radicals” and the Pakistani intelligence agency “ISI,” the NIA has rejected his request to be placed under home detention.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court approved Gautam Navlakha’s one-month house imprisonment in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

The Apex court ordered officials to move Navlakha within 48 hours after doing the requisite examination of the location where he will be kept under house arrest.

In order to cover the costs of the police force that is meant to be assigned to Navlakha for his house imprisonment, the court has ordered him to pay 2.4 lakhs.

Following are the guidelines that Navlakha must adhere to while under house arrest:

No Mobile

No Laptop

No Internet or

No use of any sort of communicating device.

Given everything above, he is only permitted to use the police-provided mobile device when under house arrest in an emergency. In the presence of police officers, conversation is allowed for 10 minutes.

The bench stated in its ruling that considering his age, “We deem it reasonable to issue home arrest.” The petitioner’s numerous medical issues are also brought to our attention, as well as the fact that no charges have been filed in a trial that is scheduled to begin in the immediate future.

The activist, who is 70 years old, claimed to have dental problems, skin allergies, and a desire to get a colonoscopy to rule out malignancy.

The National Investigation Agency questioned Navlakha’s medical report from a private hospital during the hearings, claiming that one of the physicians is linked to the accused. Before agreeing on his request for home arrest, the investigational agency requested an impartial medical report.

If the Supreme Court grants Navlakha’s request to be placed under house arrest, the NIA also indicated that Navlakha will be responsible for providing the security. However, Navlakha’s attorney questioned why a 70-year-old man should be made to foot the bill. The NIA answered that he had remained in the “extremely costly” Jaslok facility in response.

The Supreme Court had on Wednesday requested information from the investigation agency regarding the limits it want to be in place should it accept Navlakha’s request to be placed under house arrest. The organisation had previously rejected Navlakha’s request, saying that he was “in touch with Kashmiri radicals” and the Pakistani intelligence service, or “ISI.” Navlakha can “write messages, etc., which can’t be avoided in house arrest,” it had also stated.

Navlakha was arrested in connection with alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial. He is currently lodged in Taloja Jail.