The bail request of journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, was denied by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court. ‘Perusal of the chargesheet, there is ample material against Gautam Navlakha. Prima¬facie Navlakha seems to be connected with the alleged offence,’ according to a special court established under the NIA Act.
When refusing the bail of Gautam Navlakha, an accused party in the Elgar Parishad case, special judge Rajesh Kataria stated, ‘The offence is very serious in nature. In view of the seriousness of the offence and the prima¬facie material against him, he is not entitled to the grant of bail.’
Navlakha is one of the 15 accused in the 2018 case who has not yet had the charges framed for the trial to commence. Navlakha is a former secretary of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights and a human rights campaigner. He was detained in August 2018 but was first put under house arrest.
Following a Supreme Court directive, he was later transferred to Taloja Central Prison in Maharashtra in April 2020. In April, Navlakha submitted an application for bail. Advocates Harshwardhan Akolkar and Wahab Khan have stated that the writer is falsely accused of the crime while speaking on behalf of Navlakha.
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