While the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought a stay on the operation of the bail order so as to appeal before the Supreme Court, the HC refused the request, stating that Babu has been in jail for over five years.
The tributes to Fr Stan by his associates and his co-accused (which were read out) provided a clue to why his death continues to touch so many.
Dominic Xavier remembers tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy who passed into the ages on Monday, July 5, 2021.
'After Father Stan Swamy's death one thing has become very clear, that if you fight for justice in India you will be called a Maoist by the State.'
The ministry of external affairs said India remains committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all its citizens and that the country's democratic polity is complemented by an independent judiciary and a range of national and state-level human rights commissions.
One unwanted fallout of Stan Swamy's death from the government's point of view will be the increased attention on those senior citizens who are still in jail on charges which are taking a long time to prove, believes Amulya Ganguli.
Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 84-year-old priest-activist Stan Swamy, arrested under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Elgar Parishad case, died at a Mumbai hospital Monday in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds.
They also demanded action against officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is conducting a probe into the Elgar Parishad case, and former superintendent of the Taloja jail.
Swamy died at the Holy Family Hospital, where he was admitted on May 29, in Mumbai on Monday, a day after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was put on ventilator support.
'Father Stan was concerned about other innocents who may be implicated and put inside without the slightest proof, the way he was.'
"Over 50 files were created on Swamy's hard drive, including incriminating documents that fabricated links between him and the Maoist insurgency," the report said.
'Parsis are inclined towards people who work for the welfare of others.'
'The law under the guise of security represents a grave and unnecessary expansion of State power at the cost of fundamental rights,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Opposition leaders and activists hit out at the Centre after the death of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy on Monday, saying it should be held accountable for the "ruthless" and "inhuman treatment" meted out to the 84-year-old who was suffering from multiple ailments and awaiting bail on medical grounds.
'If we accept this, then in a few years we will not see a democratic India that we know'
"The painful wait that Swamy will have to endure for a sipper cannot be tolerated any longer. December 4, when the very same court decides again, is seven days away. Stan cannot be refused fluids for such a long period. The NPRD and its affiliating units have therefore decided to send sippers to the jailor of Taloja Jail, Maharashtra, to be given to Stan Swamy," the NPRD said in a statement.
In a statement, they said it was 'unconscionable' that someone as old as Swamy and who was suffering poor health was put in jail amid a pandemic.
The cost of such treatment is to be borne by Waze and his family, the court said.
Swamy, 83, who is suffering from various health issues including Parkinson's disease, was arrested on October 8 and has been lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.
Swamy, a Jesuit priest and activist, was arrested from Ranchi in October, 2020, and has since been lodged at the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.
He took up the causes of tribals marginalised after their lands has been taken over for dams, mines and townships, often without their consent.
Suffering from Parkinson's disease and a host of other medical ailments, Swamy, who was then 83-year-old, was remanded to judicial custody following his arrest.
A court in Mumbai on Thursday once again sought a reply from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 83-year-old tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy's request that he be provided a straw and sipper in jail.
Swamy said section 43D(5) of the UAPA was violative of the accused person's fundamental right to life and liberty as guaranteed by the Constitution even as the high court on Saturday extended the stay of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest at a private hospital in Mumbai till July 6.
The Bombay high court on Thursday said Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, shall remain admitted in a Mumba-based private hospital till June 18 as he is suffering from Covid-19.
Swamy's counsel said there was negligence on part of the Taloja prison authorities, who failed to provide immediate medical attention to the Jesuit priest.
Swamy, who is suffering from various health ailments including Parkinson's disease, was arrested on October 8 by the NIA.
The church authorities said Swamy's body will be cremated in Mumbai after completing certain formalities and his ashes will be taken to Ranchi and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, the state where he was based.
A resolution commemorating the life of Indian human rights defender Father Stan Swamy and seeking an independent investigation into the death of the Jesuit priest has been introduced in the US Congress, Congressman Juan Vargas has said.
Senior counsel Mihir Desai, who represented Swamy in the high court, said that although the activist was dead and there existed no question of him being granted bail any more, the high court need not consider the late priest's appeals seeking bail abated.
Researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, were released on bail from a Navi Mumbai prison on Friday, more than six years after they were arrested. The duo walked out of the Taloja jail after completing bail formalities before the special NIA court, over a fortnight after they were granted bail by the Bombay High Court. The HC granted bail to Wilson and Dhawale on January 8, noting they had been in jail since 2018 and the trial in the case, in which anti-terror act UAPA has been invoked, was yet to start. Apart from Dhawale and Wilson, 14 other activists and academicians were arrested in the case. Eight of them have been granted bail till now, with one, Mahesh Raut, still in jail as the appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against his bail is pending before the Supreme Court. Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, one of the accused, died in 2021 while lodged in judicial custody. The case pertains to provocative speeches allegedly delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima, a village outside Pune city, the next day. The Pune police had claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. The NIA later took over the probe.
The Bombay high court, while hearing posthumously the appeals filed by late Jesuit priest Stan Swamy in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, on Monday said he was a wonderful person and the court had 'great respect' for his work.
The special court judge D E Kothalikar has asked the national probe agency to file its reply on the matter on November 26.
Special judge DE Kothalikar, who rejected Swamy's bail plea on Monday, said in his order, which was made available on Tuesday, that based on the material on record it seemed Swamy was a member of banned Maoist organisation.
The Bombay High Court has granted bail to researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. The court noted that they had been in jail since 2018 and the trial was yet to start. The court said the two had spent more than six years in jail as under-trial prisoners. The NIA, the prosecution agency, did not seek a stay to the HC order. Eight other activists have been granted bail in the case, which pertains to provocative speeches allegedly delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.
The bench's order came after Swamy's advocate, senior counsel Mihir Desai, moved the bench seeking an urgent hearing on a plea.
Till late Sunday night, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest was on ventilator support, the senior counsel told PTI. Swamy has been undergoing treatment at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, following a court order on May 28.
On January 1 in 2018, violence erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen.
Prolonged incarceration without trial amounts to infringement of the right to life under the Constitution, the Bombay high court said while urging a special court to expedite the trial in the 2018 Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.