elgar parishad case

The state prosecution on Friday opposed the National Investigation Agency’s plea for transfer of the elgar parishad case records, seized properties and proceeding to the special NIA court in Mumbai, stating that it was “not legally tenable” under the provisions of law.

The Bombay high court on Thursday directed prison authorities to give all medical records, including test results to Elgar Parishad accused and former law professor Sudha Bharadwaj on request.

Tuesday, July 5, marked the first death anniversary of Fr Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who was among the 16 elgar parishad case accused.

Yug Chaudhary, counsel for accused Sudha Bharadwaj in the elgar parishad case, on Friday argued his client was arrested “only on typed, unsigned and unverified letters” recovered allegedly from computers of a co-accused and said in the Bombay high court,

Two accused in the elgar parishad case -- P Varavara Rao (80) and Shoma Sena (61) -- have sought bail citing the coronavirus and their advanced stage. The court is likely to pronounce an order on Tuesday.

The NIA on Wednesday opposed the interim bail pleas of three accused, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves, in the elgar parishad case. The court will hear arguments on the plea on August 9.

Citing the report by Arsenal Consulting, a US-based digital forensics firm, and alleging planting of electronic evidence, 65-year-old Vernon Gonsalves, accused in the elgar parishad case, moved the special NIA court seeking discharge on Wednesday.

Special UAPA judge Ravindra M Pande on Thursday rejected the plea of the nine accused in the elgar parishad case challenging the special court’s jurisdiction to take a direct cognisance of the offence and seeking a default bail.

A prosecutor on Wednesday submitted a sealed envelope containing material against civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde to argue for his arrest in the elgar parishad case.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday claimed that the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra had misused police machinery in the elgar parishad case. The former Union minister also said the elgar parishad case and the case of violence at Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district on January 1, 2018, were two completely different cases.

The family members of elgar parishad case accused have alleged they have been “systematically” denied medical care, citing activist Vernon Gonsalves’s condition as yet another act of “criminal negligence” on the part of Taloja jail authorities.

In the detailed draft charges submitted against 15 surviving accused and six absconding accused in the elgar parishad case, the prosecution has invoked a section relating to waging war against the government of India. The special NIA court will now hear arguments on the draft charges from both the prosecution and defence and then decide what charges, if any, are to be framed against the accused.

A special court in Mumbai rejected applications made by few of the 2018 elgar parishad case accused for cloned copies of digital hard disc recovered by the investigating agency on Wednesday.

The prayer against their transfer to other jails by the accused in the 2018 elgar parishad case, who constantly complained about the poor conditions and overcrowding in Taloja prison, “appears to be paradoxical”, said the Bombay high court on Friday.

The lawyer for poet P Varavara Rao (81), an accused in elgar parishad case, has written to Taloja jail superintendent for information on his health after he could barely speak during a phone call to his family on Saturday evening. Rao has been admitted to the jail hospital.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil, an associate professor in Delhi University, for his involvement in the elgar parishad case that allegedly led to caste-based violence in Koregaon Bhima in January 2018, reports Bharti Jain.

Three inmates of Taloja central prison in Navi Mumbai, who are accused in the elgar parishad case, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday after RT-PCR tests were conducted on 57 inmates this week.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he suspected the Centre had something to hide about the erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra, which is possibly why the probe into the elgar parishad case was hurriedly transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).