Elgar Parishad case: Navlakha well-versed in Maoist ideologies but not involved in their activities

Mumbai: The counsel for Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha referred to various scholarly works done by him to show that he was well-versed in Maoist ideologies but it did not mean that he was involved in Maoist activities

Mumbai: The counsel for Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha referred to various scholarly works done by him to show that he was well-versed in Maoist ideologies but it did not mean that he was involved in Maoist activities.

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The counsel advocate Yug Chaudhry also showed the court, Navlakha’s writings, which criticised the Maoist philosophy, violent actions by the group and oppression of women in areas dominated by the group to drive home the point that NIA had wrongly alleged that Navlakha had links with the banned CPI (Maoists) group.

The division bench of justice AS Gadkari and justice PD Naik, which continued hearing the regular bail application of Navlakha, was informed by advocate Chaudhry that as a journalist, his client used to speak with various people including the Maoists.

He cited an example to clarify a point and said, “A journalist conducts an interview of Dawood Ibrahim, he goes to Pakistan to do it. After he comes back and publishes the interview, can he be booked under the MCOCA?”

The bench was told that after speaking to Maoist leaders, Navlakha had published the interviews. He added that Navlakha was an authority on Maoist literature and even cited the example of a student from Oxford University, who contacted Navlakha for her thesis on the subject.

Chaudhry further referred to the articles written by Navlakha and to the book he had written, wherein he had raised questions as to who was behind the Jammu massacre and the train blasts. While referring to the letter of the Maoists, wherein they had termed Navlakha as a government agent, Chaudhry stressed that the veracity of the document could not be denied and it had to be accepted as it is.

The case against Navlakha and other arrested accused pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017. Police had alleged that the event was funded by Maoists and all the accused had contributed towards instigating those gathered which resulted in the violence at Bhima KOregaon the next day which left one dead and several other injured.

On November 24 last year, Navlakha was released from Taloja Central Jail and was placed under “house arrest” following a Supreme Court order. He was shifted to a community hall in a building in Navi Mumbai, which was to be his “home” for a month. The SC had directed that he be placed under house arrest for an interim period. He is presently staying in Navi Mumbai.