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Synopsis

In a major development, the National Investigation Agency has sought vacation of the orders of 29-09-2022 and 10-11-2022 whereby the Supreme Court directed to put Gautam Navlakha under house arrest for a month due to health conditions. The application alleges deliberate and successive suppression of material facts, and further alleges personal bias vitiating the medical report.

The application filed by NIA through AOR, Arvind Kumar Sharma further states that Navlakha should be treated like any other accused, and no special facility of house arrest should be allowed. Furthermore, “no special treatment is available to any other accused of his age that are in jails across the country. Such accused persons of his age are in jails as under-trails or pre-charge sheeted accused, with far lesser grave offences alleged against them as opposed to the nature of offences against the Petitioner herein”, the application urges.

The senior doctor Dr. S. Kothari of Jaslok Hospital who prepared Navlakha’s medical reports is directly related to him, making it a clear case of personal bias, says NIA in its application.

Many letters and emails have been annexed with the application, where Navlakha has addressed and has been addressed to by other accused members of CPI (Maoist). Sudarshan Surendra Galing, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves are a few names of the other accused.

It says that there is only one CCTV (at the entrance) in the premises to monitor Navlakha’s activities, and many people have access to the building, as the same being a library. While questioning the suggested premises, the plea states, “...that it is inconceivable how the house arrest of a person who is accused of Maoist activities be carried out in a building which is a public library/Bhawan registered in the name of a political party, i.e. the Communist Party”.

It further highlights the serious conditions imposed by the Top Court in its earlier order of 10-11-2022, where the Court had imposed limitation on the use of communication devices and other electronic devices, number of facilities allowed for any interactions with media, and further monitoring the activities of the petitioner in house arrest. While highlighting the imposed conditions, the NIA says that the initial suggestion of such a place, clearly points towards a gross, deliberate and successive suppression of material facts by the petitioner.

According to the filed affidavit, it is a standard strategy and practice of the accused persons in the present case to adopt deceptive methods by relentlessly filing petitions consistently against the agency at the cost of judicial time.

It is clear from the perusal that the suggestion of the Petitioner for house arrest to be carried out in the so-called house of Mr Naresh Patil was clearly another attempt to mislead this Hon’ble Court, abuse the process of this Hon’ble Court and to avail extraordinary relief otherwise not available to the Petitioner, the affidavit further adds.

Earlier the Court while allowing Navlakha's plea, had put certain restrictions on him, as advised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In its order, a bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy had said that Navlakha be placed under house arrest within 48 hours after the place of house arrest is scrutinized by the NIA.

While making submissions against the grant of house arrest to Navlakha, ASG SV Raju told the Supreme Court that Navlakha is alleged to be in touch with Kashmiri Extremists, ISI and the government could not control him while he was under house arrest.

Background: Navlakha was arrested by Pune police from Delhi on August 28, 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. He was initially kept under house arrest but subsequently sent to judicial custody in Taloja Central Prison in April 2020 after a Supreme Court order.

Case Title: Gautam Navlakha vs. National Investigation Agency and Anr