Supreme Court Extends Stay On Bail To Gautam Navlakha In Elgar Parishad-Maoist Links Case

In a significant development, the Supreme Court has prolonged the stay on Gautam Navlakha's bail, which was initially granted by the Bombay High Court in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, as reported by The Times Of India.

A bench comprising justices M M Sundresh and S V N Bhatti has directed the court's registry to submit the National Investigation Agency's (NIA's) plea to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud for deciding on attaching the petition with cases of other accused.

The Bombay High Court's decision to grant bail to Navlakha on 19 December 2023, faced a stay of three weeks after the NIA sought time to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Navlakha, arrested in August 2018, was granted permission by the Supreme Court in November last year to be under house arrest, and he currently resides in Navi Mumbai.

The case revolves around alleged inflammatory speeches made during the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on 31 December 2017, which police claim triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the following day.

Notably, 16 'activists' have been apprehended in connection with the case, with five presently out on bail.