E-Paper
Elgar Parishad case: Maharashtra govt opposes NIA application for transfer of case records to Mumbai
Additional sessions Judge SR Navandar, heard the state and NIA counsels and will give his order on Feb 14
The Maharashtra Government on Friday has objected to National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) application for transferring all the court records and seized articles relating to the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case from the files of the Pune court to NIA court.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar in her submission before the court objected to the NIA application for this transfer stating that the NIA application was not legally tenable under the provisions of the law, especially as per the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 and NIA Act, 2008. She said the NIA has not given legal and sufficient reasons for transferring the said proceedings to the special court of NIA in Mumbai.
Additional sessions Judge SR Navandar, heard the state and NIA counsels and will give his order on Feb 14.
In her submissions, Pawar said the alleged offence was committed within the local jurisdiction of the Pune Court and the investigating authority after the completion of the investigation filed the chargesheet before the Pune court. As such, the matter is fixed for framing of the charges.
Pawar said the provisions of UAPA, 1967 provides for definition of the word ‘court’ under section 2 (a) of the act and this means criminal court having jurisdiction under the code to try offences under this Act. It includes special courts constituted under section 11 and section 22 of NIA Act 2008, Pawar’s application stated.
The government counsel submitted that section 22 of the NIA Act empowers the state government to constitute one or more special courts for trial of the offence under any or all the enactments specified. Therefore, in view of the provisions for the appointment of a special court to conduct the scheduled offences, the state government has established special courts, including the one in Pune.
The application filed by the NIA for transferring the record to Mumbai may be rejected, Pawar pleaded.
The NIA counsel stated that the NIA court in Mumbai has jurisdiction over the state of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa and hence the case can be transferred to Mumbai and their application for the transfer of records be accepted.
The case relates to the inter-caste violence that broke out near the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial in Pune on January 1, 2018, leaving one dead and several others injured. Dalits visit the memorial in large numbers as it commemorates the victory of British forces, which included Dalit Mahar soldiers, over the army of the Brahmin Peshwa rulers of Pune in 1818.
The Pune Police had filed cases against activists and intellectuals linked to Left and Dalit movements, who had given speeches at Elgar Parishad, a gathering held on December 31, 2017.
The activists were accused of inciting violence and were picked up in raids across the country. The police had claimed the organisers of the event had links with Maoists, a banned terror group.
