The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to poet and activist P Varavara Rao on medical grounds in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
Babu, who teaches English at the Delhi University, was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 and 121A (waging or attempting to wage war against government), 124A (sedition), among others.
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.
This legislation, passed in 1967 on the recommendations of the National Integration Council to combat communalism, casteism, regionalism and linguistic chauvinism and to deal with associations engaged in secessionist activities, has changed colour over time and has now become a statute that has created new categories of offences and punishments, 108 ex-bureaucrats said in an open letter.
'The Modi government did not deny it had acquired the NSO platform, and did not deny it was spying on its citizens by hacking into their phones,' says Aakar Patel.
'There is no one who will be able to have a dignified life, when your brother and sister of another community are not being treated as human.'
This is Navlakha's second round of appeal in the high court seeking regular bail.
'Just waiting outside the prison gate, thinking that your mother is inside those walls even though you know she is innocent, affects your psyche.'
Despite being hailed as one of India's most progressive and most developed states, it is witnessing the fallout of lopsided progress.
This is not the first time the Nagpur Jail authorities are being accused of negligence towards their inmates.
'I was told to go to the next room and strip -- that's when it really hits you for the first time... that you are a criminal and you are being treated like one.' 'It comes as a shock when, instead of your name, you hear, "Yeh naya Maowadi aaya hai (A new Maoist has arrived)".'
Activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, are likely to walk out of jail only next week after securing bail from the Supreme Court on Friday as certain formalities are to be completed before they are released, defence lawyers said in Mumbai.
'You are with each other 24x7, so how can you ignore someone crying next to you?' 'How can you not share a piece of chicken with someone who is sitting next to you and watching you eat it?' 'Of course, you will share.' 'And you become friends with the kind of people you never thought you'd even know.'
A special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai has allowed activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to have a telephonic conversation with his mother for five minutes in the wake of the death of his brother Milind Teltumbde, a top Naxal leader, in an encounter with security forces last week.
In a relief to academic-activist Shoma Kanti Sen, arrested in June 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, the Supreme Court on Friday granted her bail while taking cognisance of the "composite effect" of the delay in framing charges coupled with her prolonged detention.
The Bombay high court on Friday granted temporary bail of four days to former Delhi University professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to undergo cataract surgery and a medical check-up at a city-based hospital.
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.
The Bombay high court on Friday directed the National Investigation Agency to get poet-activist Varavara Rao medically examined at the Nanavati hospital in north west Mumbai to check if he suffered from any ailments that warranted extension of his medical bail.
'He was the best court craftsman that I have ever seen who could modulate his arguments in accordance with the judge and the mood.'
'Why potentially anybody, not only Muslims and Dalits, can be subjected to custodial death?'
The callousness with which these political dissidents are being treated goes against the Supreme Court's directive, given right at the beginning of the lockdown. The apex court had directed states to release prisoners to decongest jails, which had become hotspots of the coronavirus.
Justice Sadhana Jadhav of the Bombay high court has recused herself from hearing a bunch of petitions about the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, the third judge of the HC to do so this year.
A special NIA court here on Wednesday denied interim bail to activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to visit his nonagenarian mother in wake of the death of his brother Milind Teltumbde, a top Naxal leader, in an encounter with security forces last month.
'I asked him why were he and other writers being targeted.' 'I saw his point of view, that he and others being writers, their work was popular and well-appreciated by people, especially the youth.' 'This made the State fear them.'
'India is now surrounded on its north, west and east by unfriendly neighbours -- Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh -- some of whom are openly inimical,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
'When there was no crime committed, everything had to be fabricated. They see it as a war, and everything is fair in love and war.'
"Every criminal investigation is based on allegations and we have to see whether there is some material," the court said.
Pune police on Tuesday raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least 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.
'Our Left is squeamish about democracy. They are so mechanical they have only dogma.'
'Dalits are not going to vote for the BJP in 2019.'
He also said the Naxals were spreading in urban areas and were trying to mislead the people.
The apex court on July 28 granted bail to the two accused, noting that the actual involvement of Gonsalves and Ferreira in any terrorist act has not surfaced from any third-party communications.
The release of activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, could get delayed as a special NIA court in Mumbai on Monday rejected their pleas for temporary cash bail.
Our government shows a benign mask to the world behind which its fangs are bared against its own citizens, observes Aakar Patel.
The Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The Supreme Court said on Friday keeping activist Gautam Navlakha under house arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case further will set a "wrong precedent" and directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to apprise it of his current medical condition and the stage of trial.
Gurumurthy's counsel said the journalist has already tendered his apology in relation to a tweet and there is no necessity for him to file another affidavit conveying an unconditional apology in clear terms.
The Bombay high court in its judgment granting bail to activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has noted that there was no material on record to infer prima facie that he conspired to or committed any terrorist act.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the NIA's application and ordered social activist Gautam Navlakha to be put under house arrest within 24-hours after shifting him from Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.
'After exiting jail, I thought some of my IIM-A classmates would contact me. None did.' 'The case indeed scared people, which perhaps was the objective of the State.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances