New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday extended the stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on the operation of its order, which granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha, allegedly accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. Navlakha is currently under house arrest in Navi Mumbai. In January this year, the apex court had extended the stay imposed by the high court.
In December last year, the high court granted bail to Navlakha but kept its order in abeyance for three weeks after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought time to appeal the order in the top court. On Monday, during the hearing, a bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and S V N Bhatti said taking into consideration the fact that Bombay High Court has already granted the stay, the same stands extended till the next date of hearing. The bench has scheduled the matter for further hearing in the first week of March.
The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the NIA against the bail granted to Navlakha. In November 2022, the apex court had allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health. Navlakha’s house arrest order was strongly opposed by the NIA. As many as 16 activists were accused of being associated with the proscribed CPI(Maoist). Five of them are currently out on bail.
Read More
