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Synopsis

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday submitted before the Supreme Court that Gautam Navlakha owed the central agency as sum of ₹ 1.64 crore towards expenses for the security provided to him during his house arrest.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju further told a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti that the 70-year-old, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, had only paid ₹ 10 lakh till now as part of expenses incurred for his security.

Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha, objected to the agency's calculation of the amount payable and called the demand to be "extortion". 

"They cannot demand one crore from citizens for keeping them in custody", Ramakrishnan submitted.

In response the ASG said that citizens are not entitled to house arrest.

Noting that the case required a detailed hearing, the bench posted the case for April.

In December last year, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to the Bhima Koregaon accused but had stayed the order on the NIA's request to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

This stay order has been extended by the top court till now.

Before Navlakha was granted bail by the High Court, while hearing his application seeking to changes his address for house arrest, the Supreme Court had expressed its concerns over its original order granting him house arrest in the first place.

Court had then remarked that the order had not in fact did dealt with the merits of the overall case and proceedings against Navlakha.

Navlakha, who is accused of having Maoist links was allowed to be shifted from Taloja Central Prison due to medical ailments. He 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: National Investigation Agency vs. Gautam Navlakha