The Supreme Court of India has granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha in in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist case.
Navlakha, a journalist and activist, was arrested on April 14, 2020 for his alleged incitement of the violence at Bhima Koregaon in 2018. In December 2023, the Bombay High Court approved his plea for bail.
As reported by news agency PTI, the Supreme Court refused to extend the stay imposed by Bombay HC order on Navlakha's bail last year.
The matter regarding Navlakha's bail was heard by a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bharti who refrained from extending the High Court's stay order.
"We are inclined to not extend the stay as 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," the court observed.
After Navlakha was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2023, the National Investigation Agency had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the bail order.
Following this, Bombay High Court suspended its order for three weeks. In January 2024, Supreme Court of India extended this stay at the request of NIA.
However, on Tuesday, the apex court decided to lift the stay and granted the activist bail.
When Was He Arrested?
Navalakha is a journalist and activist who was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case under the UAPA act The activist had been accused of having links to the banned organization - Communist Party of India- Maoist.
However, in 2022, he was moved from jail to house arrest due to ill-health and has been under NIA radar since then.
