E-Paper
Elgar case: Charges of sedition, war against govt not mentioned in NIA FIR
HT has a copy of the FIR filed by the NIA which names 11 persons - the nine arrested activists, and Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde
The first information report (FIR) filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mumbai on January 24, has not invoked the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections pertaining to sedition and waging war against the government of India against the accused in the Elgar Parishad case.
HT has a copy of the FIR filed by the NIA which names 11 persons - the nine arrested activists, and Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde. “Others” mentioned in the FIR have not been identified. The Pune Police FIR names a total of 23 accused, including those not arrested.
Both these IPC charges have been invoked by the Pune Police in their chargesheet submitted in the Pune Uapa court hearing the case.
Nine accused, all activists, are currently held the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune.
While the original FIR filed by the Pune Police did not have these sections, the investigators in November 2019 invoked Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 121 (waging war against the government of India) and 124(a) (sedition) and 121(a) (conspiracy), against all the accused arrested on allegations of Maoist connections.
In its fresh FIR filed in Mumbai on January 24, 2020, days after the NIA was entrusted with the Elgar Parishad probe by the centre, the agency invoked IPC Sections 153A (promoting disharmony), 505(1)(b) (causing fear) 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons), and 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention).
The agency has also slapped Sections 13 (Punishment for unlawful activities), 16 (Punishment for terrorist act), 18 (Punishment for conspiracy), 18B Punishment for recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist act, 20 (Punishment for being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation) and 39 (Offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
While an NIA spokesperson did not respond to phone calls and text messages, a senior Pune Police official involved in the probe said there is always scope for the agency to add fresh sections to the FIR.
“The NIA has not officially received any details about the case from the Maharashtra government or Pune police. The agency must have filed the FIR based on information in public domain and it can be amended in future,” said the Pune Police official.
Siddharth Patil, counsel representing some of the arrested activists, said, “The state police have not handed over the probe to NIA as yet. This could be the possible reason for NIA not to have invoked remaining sections in its FIR.”
Pune police in June 2018 arrested five activists including advocate Surendra Gadling, former professor Shoma Sen, activists Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and former prime minister rural development fellow Mahesh Raut. On August 28 the same year, police made another round of arrests of prominent activists Vara Vara Rao Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves of which Navlakha is out on bail..
