Elgar: HC asks Navlakha to move Pune court for advance bail

The Bombay High Court on Monday asked civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad violence case, to approach the sessions court in Pune to seek pre-arrest bail.

The court, while dismissing Navlakha's anticipatory bail application, directed the Pune sessions court to hear his plea expeditiously.

Navlakha, accused of having Maoist links, had filed the application in the high court which had in September declined to quash the case lodged by the Pune Police in January 2018.

According to the police, "inflammatory" speeches and "provocative" statements at the Elgar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017, had triggered violence at Koregaon Bhima village near Pune the next day-- January 1, 2018.

The police have alleged that the event, held at a historic fort, was backed by people with Maoist links.

The police also alleged that Navlakha and the other accused in the case had Naxal links and were working towards overthrowing the government.

Navlakha's plea for pre-arrest bail came up for hearing on Monday before a single bench of Justice P D Naik, who dismissed it and asked the Delhi-based activist to first approach the sessions court in Pune for relief.

Justice Naik directed the court in Pune to hear and decide Navlakha's plea expeditiously and also ordered the Pune Police to not seek adjournments.

After the HC had dismissed his plea seeking quashing of the case, Navlakha had moved the Supreme Court which granted him interim protection from arrest and said he could seek anticipatory bail from the court concerned.

Navlakha and the other accused were booked under the relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Besides Navlakha, eight others, including Telugu poet Varavara Rao and Left-wing activists Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha Bharadwaj, are accused in the case.