‘HC SHOULD DECIDE ON NIA PLEA IN ELGAR PARISHAD CASE’
PUNE: The Bombay High Court should decide on the transfer of the Elgar Parishad case from a special Uapa court in Pune, to a special NIA court in Mumbai, according to defence lawyers of the nine persons arrested by Pune police.
Pune district government pleader Ujwala Pawar, state prosecutor in the case, on Thursday, asked for another day’s time to file her say in the NIA application. The defence lawyers were responding to an application by the NIA seeking the transfer of the case from the Pune court to a special NIA court in Mumbai.
The arguments took place in the court of additional sessions judge SR Navander.
“In the government notification, nowhere does it say that the case has to be transferred to a Mumbai court, it just says that the NIA should take up the investigation. For transfer of the case, they will have to approach the High Court,” said Sidharth Patil, a defence lawyer.
“We are challenging the maintainbility of such an application in this court,” said advocate Rohan Nahar. The NIA lawyer cited two orders — one from the Kerala High Court and one from the Supreme Court — where cases investigated by the state machinery were later taken up by Central government investigation agencies.
Even as government pleader Pawar sought more time, the NIA legal representative mentioned the January 2019 case of a Khalistani activist who was arrested by the Pune unit of the anti-terrorism squad. The case was handed over to the NIA and a chargesheet was filed in May 2019. “That was a different case. In this case, a chargesheet has also been filed (by the Pune police),” said Pawar.
“All the orders (cited by the NIA) talk about what the High Court has done. Even in the CBI v/s Prakashan case, the case was under investigation when the NIA came into the picture. Here, chargesheet, supplementary chargesheet has also been filed by the local agency,” said advocate Patil. Appearing for themselves, two of the accused — Surendra Gadling and Arun Ferriera — submitted that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide on NIA application, but also to hear the case at all.