HC quashes special court's order rejecting Navlakha's bail plea

The Bombay High Court on Thursday quashed a cryptic order of a special court rejecting bail to activist Gautam Navlakha an accused in the Elgar ParishadMaoist links case and directed the special judge to rehear his bail pleaA division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik noted that the special courts order did not contain an analysis of the evidence relied upon by the prosecution as it directed the special judge to conclude the fresh hearing within 4 weeksThe 70yearold social activist had moved HC challenging the September 5 2022 order under the National Investigation Agency NIA Act refusing him bail on meritsThe high court briefly heard the arguments put forth by Navlakhas counsel Yug Chaudhary this week but opined that the reasoning in the order of the special court was cryptic and said it didnt get the benefit of a reasoned orderNo reason of whatever nature is given Trial court has not given reasoning as required under section 43D5 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA while rejecting bail the bench said on ThursdayAlso readBoy spends two days with his dead mothers body thinking she is sleepingThe HC said the bail plea requires a fresh hearing by the special court and sent it back to the latterThe special judge is requested to conclude within 4 weeks without being influenced from September 5 order and this order of today It is made clear that this court has not made any opinion on merits HC saidNavlakha was arrested in August 2018 but was initially placed under house arrestHe was later moved to the Taloja Central Prison near Mumbai in April 2020 after a Supreme Court orderHowever on November 10 last year the Supreme Court allowed his plea to be shifted back to house arrest for a month This was extended by another month on December 13He is presently residing in Navi Mumbai in Maharashtras Thane districtThe NIA opposed Navlakhas bail plea by claiming that he had been introduced to a Pakistan InterServices Intelligence ISI General for his recruitment This shows his nexus with the spy organisation said the federal agencyThe case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31 2017 which the police claim triggered violence the next day near the KoregaonBhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra cityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever