New Delhi: A sessions court in Pune on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who has been accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and for having alleged links with the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The court had, on November 7, reserved its judgment till November 12 on the bail plea and asked police not to take any action against him till then. It is likely that police will arrest Navlakha soon.
Navlakha, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad caste violence case, had filed the anticipatory bail application in the sessions court on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Bombay high court dismissed the Delhi-based activist’s pre-arrest bail plea and asked him to approach the sessions court in Pune for relief.
Also read | Bhima Koregaon Case: SC Extends Protection From Arrest to Gautam Navlakha
Navlakha had filed the application in the high court which had, in September, declined to quash a police case lodged against him in January last year, after which he had moved the Supreme Court.
The apex court had granted him interim protection from arrest and said he could seek anticipatory bail from the court concerned.
According to the police, “inflammatory” speeches and “provocative” statements at the Elgar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017, had triggered caste violence at Koregaon Bhima village near here on January 1, 2018.
The police have alleged that the event, held at a fort, was backed by people with Maoist links.
Navlakha and the other accused were booked under the relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Besides Navlakha, eight others, including Telugu poet Varavara Rao and Left-wing activists Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha Bharadwaj, are accused in the case.
(With PTI inputs)