Bombay HC grants bail to Gautam Navlakha in Elgar Parishad case; stays it for 3 weeks

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Delhi-based activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha in the 2018 Pune Elgar Parishad case, where he was booked for alleged Maoist links and under the anti-terror act—UAPA.
The HC bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and S G Dige, who pronounced the order after 2.30 pm, stayed it for three weeks on a request made by NIA counsel.
NIA counsel Sandesh Patil said the agency intends to go to the Supreme Court against the grant of bail and needs some time.
In June, the HC had sought a reply from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to a fresh appeal filed by Navlakha after the special trial court in Mumbai declined him relief in April 2023. His counsel Yug Chaudhry argued that a case for bail was made out on merits. The plea was opposed by the NIA.
Navlakha, arrested on April 14, 2020, has been incarcerated since then and has been under house arrest in Navi Mumbai since November last year.
The HC set aside the trial court order for reasons recorded separately.
The special NIA Judge Rajesh Katariya at the sessions court, while rejecting Navlakha's bail plea on merits, had said that there was prima facie evidence of a nexus between him and Syed Gulam Nabi Fai, who was convicted by a US court in 2012 for links with the Pakistani spy agency ISI, with reasonable grounds, including allegations of him being a member of the banned organization - Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Navlakha had earlier filed the appeal before the HC after his previous bail plea was rejected by a special court in September 2022.
In March this year, the HC had directed the special court to conduct a fresh hearing and give a reasoned order, observing that the special court's September order was "cryptic" and did not consider an analysis of evidence relied on by the prosecution.
On April 20, Justice Revati Mohite-Dere recused herself from hearing his fresh plea for bail.
The reasoned bail order passed by Justices Gadkari and Dige will be available later.