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Bhima Koregaon case accused, Gautam Navlakha, on Tuesday got bail as the Supreme Court lifted the stay on the Bombay High Court order granting bail to the activist.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti lifted the stay from the High Court order saying its order is subject to the payment of Rs 20 Lakh for his house arrest. Navlakha is under house arrest at a public library in Mumbai since November 2022 due to his ill health. "Prima facie we are of the view that there is no need for extend the interim order of stay. The appellant (Navlakha) has been in incarceration for more than four years and charges are yet to be framed... the trial would take years and years and years for its completion. Thus, without going at the length into contentions, we are not inclined to extend the stay," said the bench in its order. The apex court was hearing an appeal of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against the Bombay High Court's December 2023 order by which bail was granted to Navlakha. On November 10, 2022, the apex court had allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja prison in connection with the case, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health. Navlakha, arrested in August 2018, had moved the top court requesting that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in Taloja jail, Maharashtra. Navlakha, one of the several civil liberties activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for an alleged conspiracy to topple the government. He was arrested by the probe agency in April 2020. (ANI)
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