Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday extended protection from arrest of activists Gautam Navlakha till January 14, 2019, and Anand Teltumbde till December 17, but rejected Father Stan Swamy’s plea to quash the FIR against him in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
A Division Bench of Justices B.P. Dharmadhikari and S.V. Kotwal was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Mr. Navlakha, Mr. Teltumbde, and Mr. Swamy seeking quashing of the FIR and all criminal proceedings filed against them by the Pune police.
Advocate Yug Chaudhary, appearing for Mr. Navlakha, told the court that the Delhi High Court had quashed the arrest, but the Maharashtra government filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court (SC) against it, but another Bench at the Bombay HC stayed the arrest. Therefore, the arrest remains quashed as of now, and the next hearing in the SC is on January 10, 2019.
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However, additional government pleader Aruna Kamat Pai said she wants the stay to be vacated as the investigation is still on. The HC said since the SC will hear the matter on January 10, it will hear it on January 14, and extended the interim relief till then.
Then, senior counsel Mihir Desai, representing Mr. Swamy and Mr. Teltumbde, started arguing for Mr. Swamy. Mr. Desai said he is a 83-year-old priest who is not an accused but a ‘suspect’, so the FIR against him should be quashed.
The court asked how can a suspect come to court for protection and not apply for anticipatory bail? Mr. Desai said sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) have been applied on him. “If the police make him an accused he will be arrested and he needs protection.”
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Ms. Pai said investigation is on and he is only a suspect, therefore no protection can be granted to him. The court said it cannot quash the FIR and if the investigating agency comes across any material which shows an offence under the UAPA, he will be arrested.
The Bench said, “We cannot find any fault with the style of authorities and the statement that he is a suspect, is not grave.” The court refused to intervene and rejected the petition.
Arguing for Mr. Teltumbde, Mr. Desai said, he only wrote an article about the Bhima-Koregaon violence and the police did not conduct a raid in his house. The court adjourned the matter till December 17, and granted interim relief till then.