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Maharashtra government orders probe against jail authorities in Gautam Navlakha spectacles case
Two days after the Bombay high court (HC) criticised authorities at Navi Mumbai’s Taloja jail for refusing to hand over a pair of spectacles to activist Gautam Navlakha,
Two days after the Bombay high court (HC) criticised authorities at Navi Mumbai’s Taloja jail for refusing to hand over a pair of spectacles to activist Gautam Navlakha, the Maharashtra government on Thursday ordered a probe into the allegations. State home minister Anil Deshmukh made the announcement saying that such a situation needs to be handled with humanity.
The 70-year-old activist is an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case and is facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged that till August 2018, Navlakha was a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), an outfit banned in the country. He is currently lodged at Taloja jail.
Navlakha’s partner Sahba Hussain had alleged that the activist’s spectacles were stolen in jail and that prison authorities didn’t permit a new pair sent by his family.
“The Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha was denied spectacles by jail authorities as they refused to accept a parcel sent by his family. I have ordered an inquiry in this matter. I believe this situation should have been handled humanly and such incidents need to be avoided in future,” Deshmukh said.
“If the family has sent his spectacles, he should be given those. We need to handle these things more sensitively,” he added.
Taking cognizance of the matter, the bench of justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik on Tuesday said, “We gather from news reports that Navlakha has lost his spectacles in jail and when his family took him a new pair, the jail authorities refused to accept them. Can this [spectacles] be denied,” the bench asked. “These are human considerations. Humanity is most important, everything else will follow subsequently,” the judges added.
The high court also emphasised on the need to sensitise the prison staff by holding workshops.
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