Gautam Navlakha moves SC for changing accommodation under house arrest

Activist Gautam Navlakha Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking to be shifted from the public library in Mumbai, where he is under house arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to some other place in the city.

Navlakha's counsel told a bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna that the public library needed to be vacated.

"All I am seeking is change of address (place) of his house arrest in Mumbai itself," Navlakha's counsel said, requesting for urgent hearing.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was appearing in another matter in the court, said he had no idea about the mentioning of the application and sought time to respond to it.

The bench said it will take up the matter for a hearing next Friday.

On November 10, 2022, the top court had allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja prison in connection with the case, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.

Noting the activist has been in custody since April 14, 2020 and prima facie there is no reason to reject his medical report, it had said Navlakha does not have any criminal background except for this case and even the Government of India had appointed him an interlocutor to hold talks with Maoists.

Putting a number of conditions, including a deposit of Rs 2.4 lakh as security expenses, the top court had said the order to place the 70-year-old activist under house arrest for a month in Mumbai should be implemented within 48 hours.

Since the November 10, 2022 order the top court has extended the tenure of his house arrest several times.

On February 17, Navlakha had withdrawn from the top court his application seeking to be shifted to Delhi from Mumbai under house arrest.

Navlakha has told the apex court through his counsel he will look for some other place to stay in Mumbai.

On January 9, the top court had said its interim order placing Navlakha under house arrest will continue till the next date of hearing.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of Pune.