Bhima-Koregaon violence: HC frees activist Navlakha
It thrills me no end. The period of house arrest, despite the restrictions imposed, was put to good use, so I hold no grudge.
— Gautam Navlakha, Activist
New Delhi, Oct 1: The Delhi high court on Monday freed Gautam Navlakha from house arrest, five weeks after he along with four other rights activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence in Maharashtra.
Granting relief to Navlakha, the high court also quashed the trial court’s transit remand order which he had challenged before the matter was taken to the Supreme Court.
The high court refused to accept the submission of Maharashtra government that his house arrest be extended by two days since the apex court, by its last week verdict, had also extended it by four weeks.
A bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said the apex court had extended the house arrest by four weeks to enable the activists to avail appropriate legal remedy and the extension was for this limited purpose and Navlakha has availed it.
Holding that the trial court order was unsustainable in law, the court said Navlakha’s detention has exceeded 24 hours which was “untenable”. “In view of Section 56 read with Section 57 of the CrPC and absence of remand order of the CMM, the detention of the petitioner has clearly exceeded 24 hours which is untenable in law.
Consequently the house arrest of the petitioner comes to an end now,” the court said allowing the petition filed on behalf of Navlakha challenging his arrest and the transit remand order of the trial court. The court made it clear that this order will not preclude the state of Maharashtra from proceeding further.