State opposes Gautam Navlakha’s plea seeking arrest relief

Mumbai: The state government on Thursday opposed a petition by activist Gautam Navlakha seeking relief from arrest. The government said relief should not be given to Mr Navlakha, considering Wednesday’s Naxal attack in Gadchiroli.

A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Bharti Dangre was hearing the petition filed by Mr Navlakha seeking to quash the case lodged against him by Pune police after the Elgar Parishad held on December 31, 2017, which allegedly triggered violence at Bhima-Koregaon in Pune the next day.

On Thursday, additional public prosecutor (APP) Aruna Pai argued that considering the Naxal attack in Gadchiroli on Maharashtra Day, Mr Navlakha should not be given relief from arrest. Since the beginning, the state government alleged that Mr Navlakha and his accomplices were connected to the banned Naxal outfit CPI Maoist and had been opposing his petition for the past eight months.

The bench did not accept the state’s statement and said that since October 2018, the relief to Mr Navlakha had been extended so it could not be refused immediately. Mr Navlakha’s counsel Yug Choudhary at last hearing argued that Mr Navlakha was an author and peace activist and a specialist on conflict zones. His books had been praised by the likes of award-winning economist Amartya Sen and the government had done him a huge disservice by arresting him.