Delhi HC frees Navlakha from house arrest

The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered the release of human rights activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest, saying his detention was "untenable" under law.

A bench of justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel also set aside a lower court order allowing the Maharashtra Police to take Navlakha to Pune and said Navlakha's detention had exceeded 24 hours which was "untenable" in law.

"Consequently the house arrest of the petitioner comes to an end now," the bench said.

"It is obvious that the order passed by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate is unsustainable in law," the bench said, observing that the transit remand order was passed in violation of the the basic provisions of the Constitution and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The high court bench, however, said that the Maharashtra Police was free to begin fresh proceedings in the matter against Navlakha as per legal provisions

It also rejected the Maharashtra Police plea seeking extension of the house arrest by a few more days.

The high court in its order observed that the magistrate had passed the order without studying the case diary and the grounds of arrest were not communicated to Navlakha while arresting and seeking his remand.

The bench also noted that the top court had extended the house arrest by four more weeks to allow the petitioner time to "avail the legal remedies".

Navlakha was among the five rights activists arrested by the Maharashtra Police in a series of raids across the country on August 28 for their alleged links with a banned Maoist group.

Navlakha was arrested from his residence in south Delhi's Nehru Enclave and presented before a magistrate's court here which allowed the police to present him before a court in Pune.

Subsequently, the high court directed the Maharashtra Police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi and keep him under house arrest until further orders.

The Supreme Court on September 29 rejected a plea for immediate release of the five rights activists, held in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence in Maharashtra.

--IANS

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