After Plea, Special Court Allows 30 Min Out of Anda Cell to Gautam Navlakha

A special court on Tuesday allowed activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, to be taken outside the anda cell he is lodged in at Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai for 30 minutes, the Indian Express reported.

Navlakha had been shifted to the 'Anda Circle' (high-security barracks) on October 12 last year. His partner Sahba Husain had then claimed that the 70-year-old's already fragile health had deteriorated further due to shifting.

The activist and veteran journalist in his plea filed last December had said that he is 70 and lodged in the prison as an undertrial. The plea added that he is aware that his stay in the jail could be prolonged. “Though my life and liberty stand compromised without trial and I wait patiently for justice and freedom, I have not forfeited my rights,” he was reported to have shared with the court.

I have to make sure that my physical and mental health do not suffer due to prolonged incarceration,” his plea said.

In April 2018, the Maharashtra Police arrested Navlakha for alleged involvement in the violence in Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018. The case was then transferred to the NIA. Following the Delhi High Court order quashing the civil rights activist’s arrest, he had filed for anticipatory bail with the Sessions Court and Bombay High Court.

The Bombay High Court had granted him interim protection during the hearing of the pre-arrest bail pleas.

After the High Court rejected his applications, the activist approached the Supreme Court.

However, the apex court had rejected Navlakha’s bail plea in March 2020, directing him and another accused in the case, Professor Anand Teltumbde, to surrender before the prosecuting agency within a period of three weeks.