[Bhima Koregaon] Bombay High Court dismisses Gautam Navlakha plea to be moved from prison to house arrest

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha to be transferred from Taloja Prison and placed under house arrest instead..A Bench of Justices SB Shukre and GA Sanap passed the verdict today after it was reserved earlier this month. "The petitioner would be at liberty to bring to the notice of the Presiding Officer of the Special NIA Court his grievance in respect of any problem or difficulty faced by him. The learned Presiding Officer of the Special NIA Court is directed to ensure that the grievance made by the petitioner is redressed within the parameters of the law" the order stated. The Superintendent of the Central Prison Taloja is also directed to ensure that timely medical aid is made available to the petitioner, the order stated. ."...the criteria like age, health condition, antecedents of the accused, the nature of crime, the need for other forms of custody and the ability to enforce the terms of the house arrest, would be some of the indicative factors. In our view, the case of the petitioner does not fit in any of the criteria. In the facts and circumstances, we conclude that this is not a fit case to grant the prayer" the order observed. .Navlakha, who is human rights activist and former Secretary of the People's Union for Democratic Rights, was arrested in August 2018, but was initially placed under house arrest.He was later moved to Taloja Central Prison in Maharashtra in April 2020 after a Supreme Court order.Relying upon the Supreme Court judgment in his default bail case, Navlakha moved the High Court pointing out that he was being denied basic medical aid and other necessities in Taloja and was suffering great hardships at his advanced age..Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry, appearing for Navlakha, made the following submissions:Navlakha had been under house arrest for 35 days before being protected from arrest by the Supreme Court thereafter for over 1 year and 7 months;There are no allegations against Navlakha of perpetrating a violent act or being involved in any violent act;Multiple chargesheets have been filed, evidence has been seized and hence, there is no question of his tampering with evidence;Keeping a 70-year-old in prison with the kind of facilities available will not benefit him during the trial..Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for NIA, opposed the petition on the following grounds:Navlakha ought to have approached the Special NIA Court with an application for house arrest before coming to the High Court;An order to keep him under house arrest will pose practical difficulties, as the house logistics will have to be worked out, and also the person accompanying him may be active on social media;His default bail application was also rejected, and the present application was indirectly seeking bail under the garb of house arrest;Jails have over 1,000 people who are above 70 and if the present plea is allowed, others will also approach courts seeking house arrest because of ailments, and it will be difficult to implement those orders..Additional Public Prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde, reprsenting Taloja Central Prison, also responded to the allegations made by Navlakha about denying him facilities in prison.During the COVID-19 period, prison authorities had decided not to accept any parcels either by post or delivery to control the spread of the virus in prisons. This was the reason why a book sent to Navlakha was returned, it was contended. Shinde also submitted that Navlakha was living in a high security cell within the prison, where he was the only inmate in the cell, which had an attached washroom, which he himself has to clean as per the jail manual..[Read order]