The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A division bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti declined to extend the stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on the bail granted to Navlakha in the case.
Additionally, the court directed Navlakha to pay Rs 20 lakh towards expenses for security during his house arrest.
“We are inclined to not extend the stay as the high court order is detailed in granting bail. Trial would take years and years and years for completion. Without going at length into contentions, we will not extend the stay. A sum of Rs 20 lakh to be paid to the opposite party as earliest,” the bench observed, as PTI reported.
The top court noted that Gautam Navlakha has been locked up for over four years with charges yet to be framed in the case. Last year on December 19, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Navlakha, but stayed its order for three weeks after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought time to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
Navlakha, who was arrested in August 2018, was allowed by the Supreme Court in November last year to be placed under house arrest. Currently residing in Navi Mumbai, the court took note of his prolonged incarceration without the framing of charges in the case.
While the Bombay High Court granted Navlakha bail on December 19 last year, the order was stayed for three weeks upon the NIA’s request for time to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
In a separate development, former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, also arrested and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, was granted bail by the Supreme Court last month, in April.
The Elgar Parishad case pertains to alleged provocative speeches made at a conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017, which authorities claim incited violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the following day. Sixteen activists have been arrested in connection with the case, with five of them currently out on bail.