Supreme Court issues notice to NIA on plea by Gautam Navlakha against denial of bail

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the NIA on the plea by activist Gautam Navlakha against the rejection of his statutory bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, despite the failure of the agency to file a charge sheet within the stipulated time of 90 days.

A bench presided over by Justice U U Lalit and comprising of Justices Indira Banerjee and K M Joseph sought a reply from the NIA and posted the matter for consideration on March 15.

Navlakha has challenged the Bombay High Court's order of February 8, which contended that the accused's plea of alleged illegal detention can't be considered to compute 90 days time.

Read: Bhima Koregaon Case: Activist Navlakha moves SC against denial of bail

On March 16, 2020, the top court had declined anticipatory bail to Navlakha and told him to surrender within three weeks before the NIA.

On April 8, 2020, it gave him one more week to surrender in the case of their alleged link to a banned Maoist outfit, a connection that allegedly came to the surface after the Bhima Koregaon violence.

An event 'Elgar Parishad' was held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which allegedly led to caste violence on January 1, 2018. Several prominent activists have already been arrested in the matter.

The case was initially investigated by the Pune police and was subsequently handed over to the NIA.