Human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist link case, will be released after the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to extend the stay on a December 2023 Bombay High Court order that granted bail to the activist.
"He has been in incarceration for four years. The High Court, through detailed order, has granted him bail. Without going into contention, we are inclined not to extend the stay. The trial would take years for completion. We will not extend the stay," a two-judge bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti.
Since November 2022, Navlakha has been under house arrest at a public library in Mumbai. The case relates to ‘inflammatory speeches’ made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which allegedly triggered violence the next day near the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial.
The Supreme Court also directed Navlakha to pay Rs 20 lakh towards expenses for security under house arrest.
In December 2023, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to Navlakha but stayed its order for three weeks after the National Investigation Agency sought time to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
In January this year, the top court extended the stay imposed by the High Court on the operation of its order granting bail.
While hearing the same case last month, the Supreme Court asked Navlakha to pay Rs 1.6 crore security bill for house arrest, saying he could not escape liability to pay the expenses since he had requested it.
During today's hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing on behalf of the NIA, claimed that the dues owed to it by Navlakha had increased to about ₹1.75 crore. Till date, 16 activists have been arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad Maoist link case, with five of them currently out on bail.
