The special court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act on September 5, 2022, rejected the bail application of Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima-Koregaon riot case. Special judge Rajesh J Katariya while rejecting the bail plea observed that ample material was found against Navlakha which proved that prima facie he was connected with an offense that was “very serious in nature”. The judgment said:
The documents alleged to be seized from the possession of the applicant shows the nexus of the applicant with the case. (On) Perusal of the charge sheet, there is ample material against the applicant. Prima facie, the applicant seems to be connected with the alleged offense. The offense is very serious in nature. In view of the seriousness of the offense and prima facie material against him, he is not entitled to the grant of bail.
Advocates Harshwardhan Akolkar and Wahab Khan on behalf of Navlakha argued that he is falsely implicated in the case. Navlakha’s lawyers said that the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) did not apply to him as the entire charge sheet contained no material that showed he had in any manner intended or supported any act which would disrupt the sovereignty or territorial integrity of India. Further, the lawyers argued that Navlakha is old aged and is in prison for nearly two years, and suffers from several ailments.
On the other hand, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Prakash Shetty while opposing the bail plea of Navlakha said that the probe has revealed that Navlakha is a member of the banned far-Left organization Communist Party of India – Maoist (CPI-M). The statement of SPP said that Navlakha owned incriminating documents related to such a group, accessible exclusively to party members. SPP added that Navlakha was actively involved in the activities of the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) and used to receive group emails. The statement of the SPP added that Navlakha was actively involved in fixing appointments and meetings between active urban cadres and underground leaders of CPI-Maoist under the garb of a “fact-finding mission”. The SPP further said that in the speech delivered by Navlakhi, he spoke in favor of the Islamic separatist movement in Kashmir and Maoist terrorism.
Navlakha has been accused of delivering an inciteful speech during the Elgar Parishad near Pune, which incited the Bhima – Koregaon violence in 2018. One person was killed and several others were injured in the violent clashes. Navlakha was arrested by Pune Police on August 28, 2018. He was charged with various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). In February 2020, Navlakha’s case was transferred from Pune to the special NIA court in Mumbai. After the Supreme Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to Navlakha in March 2020, Navlakha surrendered to the NIA on April 14, 2020. In April 2022, the Bombay High Court rejected Navlakha’s plea to be transferred to house arrest due to his health and prison conditions.
The Supreme Court on August 10, 2022, granted bail to another accused in the case, Varvara Rao, on medical grounds. Rao was asked by apex the court to keep the NIA informed about the medical treatment received by him.
