Activists to HC: No evidence, quash FIR, criminal proceedings

MUMBAI: Dalit writer Anand Teltumbde and civil liberty activist Gautam Navlakha moved the Bombay high court (HC) to dismiss criminal proceedings and a first information report (FIR) against them, respectively.

The proceedings against Teltumbde were initiated after the police claimed to have found documents — during a raid at his house after the Bhima-koregaon violence on January 2, 2018 — which they said establish his links with Maoists. The FIR against Navlakha accuses him of instigating violence at Bhimakoregaon with his speech at Elgar Parishad on December 31.

The petition filed by Navlakha through senior advocate Dr Yug Choudhary sought to quash an FIR on grounds that Navlakha has been implicated and the police failed to find evidence.

CONTINUED ON P 12 PANAJI: The BJP central leadership is deliberating over the names of health minister Vishwajit Rane, speaker of the assembly Pramod Sawant, and state unit president Vinay Tendulkar as it “seriously considers” putting in place a new leader to replace ailing CM Manohar Parrikar, according to several functionaries from the ruling coalition familiar with the development. BJP president Amit Shah held meetings in Delhi on Thursday with alliance partners, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP).

CONTINUED ON P 11 ››RELATED REPORT, P10