The family members of Anand Teltumbde, Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale have approached the Bombay High Court to challenge the permission granted by a special NIA court to transfer the three from Taloja Jail in Mumbai to any other “unspecified prison” in Maharashtra.
Anand Teltumbde, Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale are accused in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case. While Gadling and Dhawale were arrested in 2018, Teltumbde has been imprisoned since 2020.
JAIL AUTHORITIES MOVE APPLICATION TO TRANSFER THE ACCUSED
Recently, the jail authorities moved an application to transfer the males accused in the case to other prisons. The accused have alleged that this application was heard by the NIA court without them being informed about it.
The application stated that the former superintendent of Taloja Central Prison had in March 2021 sought permission to transfer six out of the thirteen under-trials out of the prison for the purpose of decongestion. The reason for the transfer, as stated in the application, was “presence of certain ‘sensitive’ under-trial prisoners in Taloja jail”. The former superintendent was later transferred out following several allegations.
On the basis of this request, Special Judge DE Kothalikar allowed the under-trials to be transferred.
“ACCUSED NOT INFORMED, NOT HEARD”: FAMILIES
The family members of the accused, in their petition, have said that they were not made aware of this order. They were not served a notice nor were they given the opportunity to be heard in the matter, they said.
In their petition, the family members also highlighted another application filed by the former superintendent of the jail on June 7. That application alleged that the “accused in the Elgar Parishad case, their relatives and their lawyers are taking advantage of Covid -19, are making false complaints through the media and are putting pressure on Taloja jail authorities to achieve their intentions”.
On the basis of this June 7 order, the petitioners raised the apprehension that the special judge may have treated the matter as an administrative function and mechanically allowed it without issuing a notice or holding a hearing.
Thus, Teltumbde’s wife Rama, Gadling’s wife Minal and Dhawale’s friend Sharad Gaikwad filed the petition on behalf of the male inmates against whom “an extremely prejudicial order was passed by the Special Court under the National Investigation Agency Act, permitting their transfer without offering any hearing to them”.
“TRYING TO DIVIDE THEM”: FAMILIES’ PETITION
The family members have sought directions from the court to call for the papers and proceedings from Taloja Central Prison pertaining to the application made for transfer and to quash them after perusing them.
The petitioners alleged that the superintendent of the jail was attempting to transfer the accused in order to divide them by sending them to separate jails. Their plea further states that the former superintendent’s action was “an act of victimization for having demanded their rights as prisoners”. The petition highlighted instances of violation of their rights by the prison authorities, especially during the pandemic.
The petition stated that the accused belong to several states of India and staying in the same facility had helped the families and lawyers to coordinate and visit them in prison.
Of the 13 males accused in the Elgar Parishad case and detained at Taloja jail, Varavara Rao is presently on medical bail while Hany Babu has been admitted to a private hospital for treatment. Father Stan Swamy passed away last month.
WHAT IS THE BHIMA KOREGAON – ELGAR PARISHAD CASE?
On December 31, 2017, an event was held in Pune’s Shaniwarwada Fort to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle. Speeches, plays and music performances with an anti-caste and anti-communal theme were staged.
The next day, violence broke out at the war memorial in Bhima Koregaon village in Maharashtra between right-wing groups armed with saffron flags and those who had come to mark the anniversary of the battle.
The police alleged that speeches made at the Elgar Parishad triggered this violence the next day and the event was backed by Maoists.
The investigation has since been handled by the NIA and several activists have been incarcerated, some for almost three years now.
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Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/bhima-koregaon-case-kin-accused-bombay-hc-plan-shift-unspecified-prison-1836384-2021-08-03
