Bhima Koregaon Case: Bombay HC Issue Notice To NIA On Gautam Navlakha Bail Plea

The Bombay High Court on Monday issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Gautam Navlakha’s bail plea in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018.

A division bench comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice SG Dige directed the NIA to submit its response to Navlakha’s plea challenging the special court’s rejection of his regular bail application.

Furthermore, the bench directed the lawyers to accurately record all the relevant dates pertaining to the case since the bail plea had been heard twice by the special court.

After re-hearing the plea, as per the High Court’s directive, the special NIA court rejected Navlakha’s plea. In its order, the special court noted that Navlakha was a member of the banned terrorist organization Communist Party of India (Maoist), which had perpetrated attacks leading to the deaths of numerous government security forces. The court also expressed the view that there were sufficient grounds to believe that the accusations against Navlakha were prima facie true.

In his appeal filed through advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhary, Navlakha filed an appeal asserting that the special judge had made an error in reasoning while rejecting the plea.

Navlakha, in his appeal, argued that the assertion of him being a member of the banned terrorist group was erroneous and unwarranted. He requested the court to quash and set aside the bail order and grant him release on bail. Navlakha was taken into custody in August 2018. On November 10, 2022, the Supreme Court granted his plea to be shifted from prison to house arrest. He currently resides in Navi Mumbai, located in Thane district.

This marks Navlakha’s second appeal in the High Court seeking regular bail. Previously, he approached the High Court after the special NIA court rejected his regular bail plea on September 5 of the previous year. The NIA opposed Navlakha’s bail plea, asserting that he had been introduced to a General from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for recruitment, indicating his connection with the organization.

However, the High Court deemed the reasoning in the special court’s order to be cryptic and lacking an analysis of the prosecution’s evidence. Consequently, the High Court determined that the bail application needed a fresh hearing by the special court and remanded the case back to it. Additionally, the High Court instructed the special judge to conclude the hearing within four weeks.

Following this directive, Navlakha approached the special court for the re-hearing of his case regarding regular bail. The plea was re-heard by special judge Rajesh Katariya on the same grounds, ultimately leading to the rejection of the bail plea on April 6, thereby prompting the present appeal.