Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi / Mumbai :The Supreme Court today ordered that the five human rights activists, arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, be kept under house arrest till September 6, saying dissent was the “safety valve” of democracy. The five activists will now not be sent to jail till September 6 but will remain in house arrest under police watch. The Maharashtra government today defended the arrest of five Left-wing activists in multi-state raids yesterday saying the action was based on “proof” about their “links with the Naxal movement”.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra questioned the Maharashtra police for arresting these persons after around nine months of the Bhima-Koregaon incident.
“Dissent is the safety valve of democracy and if you don’t allow these safety valves, it will burst,” the bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said.
The top court also issued notice to the Maharashtra state government and the state police on the plea filed by five intellectuals, including historian Romila Thapar and economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devika Jain, against the arrest of the rights activists yesterday in connection with the case.
The counsel, appearing for Maharashtra, raised the issue of maintainability of the plea, saying a “stranger” cannot seek relief for the activists who have already approached the high courts.
Prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao was arrested from Hyderabad, while activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira were nabbed from Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj from Faridabad in Haryana and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha was arrested from New Delhi.
The Maharashtra Police had arrested them in connection with an FIR lodged there following an event — ‘Elgaar Parishad’ (conclave) — held on December 31 last year that had triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on September 6.
The court, which took up activist Gautam Navlakha’s petition, remarked: “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy. If dissent is not allowed then the pressure cooker may burst”
Historian Romila Thapar, economist Prabhat Patnaik, and some others had approached the court against the arrest of activists Sudha Bhardwaj and Navlakha. The court has said all five must remain under house arrest until September 5.
Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar said all procedures were followed before conducting the raids against the activists.
Pune Police yesterday raided homes of some prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested five of them — poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.
The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the Elgar Parishad event held in Pune on December 31 last year, which had allegedly triggered violence between Dalits and upper caste groups at Koregaon Bhima village in the district.
“It is due to their links with naxal movements that they have been arrested. If there was no evidence, we would not have taken the action. We have followed the procedures before conducting raids against these naxal activists,” Kesarkar said.
“Actions are not taken to please anyone. Unless we had proofs, we would not have conducted the raids,” he added.
The minister said Naxals were fighting a war against India.
“It is not wrong to be Left wing, but it is wrong to be a Left wing extremist,” he said.
Kesarkar said Professor Saibaba (Delhi University professor arrested in 2014 for alleged links with Maoists) is a classic example of the intellectuals misusing their brains against the country. The Naxal movement is banned in the country and nobody should sympathise with it, he added.
On the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) letter to the Maharashtra government seeking information about the operation, he said, “It is the government’s duty to respond to the NHRC letter. It is a routine procedure. It does not necessarily mean we are doing anything wrong.”
When asked about the link of Elgar Parishad conclave with the violence at Koregaon Bhima village a day after the event, Kesarkar said, “A judicial commission has been set up to look into the matter. Let it come up with its report. If any links are established, we will take appropriate action against the organisers of Parishad.”
“We have also arrested Milind Ekbote (a right-wing leader and prime accused in the Koregaon-Bhima violence) for his alleged links to violence at Koregaon Bhima. We should not be criticised that we are targeting Left wing people alone,” he said.
“Earlier, tribals were the target of Left-wing extremists. Now, tribals are prospering through the state government’s policies, hence the naxalites are targeting the unemployed urban youth,” he said.
The Delhi High Court questioned Navlakha’s arrest on the basis of incomplete set of documents that Pune Police had produced.
“Why have documents stating grounds of arrest not translated from Marathi and not given to Navlakha? Without translated documents, how could the magisterial court have applied its mind to issue transit remand order,” the court asked. “Every minute a person spends in custody is matter of concern…Even if all other arrests in the matter are valid, it would not lend validity to this arrest”.
Navlakha has called his arrested a “political ploy” to beat down dissent.
“The entire case is a political ploy against political dissent by this vindictive and cowardly government, which is bent upon shielding the real culprits of Bhima Koregaon and thus divert attention from its own scams and failures which stretch from Kashmir to Kerala,” Navlakha said in a statement issued by the civil rights group People’s Union for Democratic Rights of which he is a part.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) stepped into the growing controversy over the arrests of Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha, saying “it appears” that standard operating procedure was not properly followed and this may amount to a violation of their human rights.
It issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the state’s police chief and for a ‘factual report’ in the matter within four weeks.
Two of five arrested people—Telugu poet Varavara Rao and activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira—were taken to Pune on Tuesday night and are likely to be produced in a court later in the day, a senior police official in Pune said.
The other two arrested for their suspected links with Maoists were trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha in Delhi.
Navlakha and Bharadwaj are confined to their homes, under the guard of police officers, and allowed to meet only their lawyers.
Eminent historian Romila Thapar and four others have moved the apex court against the arrests by Maharashtra Police.
The petition was mentioned before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
The petition, which was mentioned by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, seeks the release of all five and an independent probe into the arrests.
In a parallel development, the Delhi High Court will hear Navlakha’s plea at 2.15 pm after Maharashtra Police submitted that translated documents of the case were not ready.
Navlakha’s transit remand was secured from the Saket district court to take him to Pune. The order, however, was stayed by the high court.
It was a night of dramatic developments for those following Bhardwaj’s case.
The chief judicial magistrate of Faridabad had granted Bhardwaj’s transit remand to Maharashtra Police. However, it had to reverse its order in the early hours of Wednesday in keeping with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had stayed her transit remand for three days.
The near-simultaneous multi-city raids against the five as well as four others were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.
Provocative speeches were made at the Elgar Parishad event, which triggered the violence, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug police station in Pune after the event.
Koregaon-Bhima occupies a central place in Dalit history–it witnessed a major battle in which the Peshwa rulers were defeated on January 1, 1818 by the British army, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers. Every year, the anniversary of the battle is marked by Dalits assembling in Pune and marching to Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.
Rao, Bhardwaj, Ferreira, Gonzalves and Navalakha were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, an official said.
They were also arrested under some other sections of the IPC, along with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, for their “alleged Naxal activities”, the official said without elaborating.
According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided on Tuesday were Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.
Tuesday’s events mirrored raids conducted in June when five activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence.
Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in June.
