Supreme Court grants bail to Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case, but notes that the trial may take years to finish.

Gautam Navlakha, the accused in Bhima Koregaon, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 14, marking a significant move. Subject to the payment of twenty lakh rupees for his home arrest, the same applies

The case brought by the National Investigative Agency against the Bombay High Court’s bail-granting ruling for Bhima Navlakha was being heard by the bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti. Journalist and activist Navlakha was taken into custody on April 14, 2020, on suspicion of being involved in the violence that broke out in the Pune district’s Bhima Koregaon village on January 1, 2018. In November 2022, the Supreme Court put him under home arrest due to his poor health.

In December of last year, Navlakha was granted bail by the High Court bench consisting of Justices AS Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige. The court noted that there is no evidence to suggest that Navlakha has committed a terrorist act, as required by Section 15 of the UAPA. But after the NIA requested more time to contest the ruling in the Supreme Court, the High Court postponed its decision for three weeks. The Supreme Court repeatedly prolonged this stay.

With its order today, the Court lifted the temporary stay, while making it clear that Navlakha had been behind bars for more than four years and that the trial would require “years and years and years for its completion.” The Court also considered other pertinent issues, such as the lack of framed accusations.

“On the surface, we believe that an extension of the temporary order of stay is unnecessary. The appellant has been detained for over four years, and no charges have been brought against him.The trial will take years and years and years to conclude, but the High Court has decided in a comprehensive decision to grant bail. Thus, we are not willing to extend the stay, without delving into the relevant argument.

In her representation of Navlakha, Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan raised the issues of extended detention and the extension of bail for other co-accused. She also disputed the requested amount for the home arrest and stated that it was not reasonable. Ramakrishnan based her case on the claim that Navlakha’s salary is not taken into account by the charges.

Contrarily, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that several co-accused individuals were not released on bond. He emphasized that the High Court erred in giving the bail and that the accusations were grave.

Concerning the matter of house detention, the Court ordered Navlakha to make a 20 lak interim payment. In order to receive the bail that the High Court authorized, this sum must be paid.

Formerly, the Court was told by Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, representing Navlakha, that there were 375 witnesses in the case. The trial “may not be over for another ten years,” the court stated verbally after this. Ramakrishnan had also voiced her worry that the bail order—which the High Court had granted based on its own merits—had been stayed without the party being given a chance to be heard. As a result, the Court scheduled the hearing for today.

Importantly, today also saw the listing of Navlakha’s request to have his house arrest moved to Mumbai. At a previous hearing, the court verbally informed Shadan Farasat, the advocate for Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha, that in the event that house arrest was requested, the NIA’s monitoring costs would have to be covered. Shadan Farasat, the advocate for Gautam Navlakha, then informed the Division bench that there was no problem paying the fees and that the problem was figuring them out.

Of the sixteen suspects in the Bhima Koregaon case, Navlakha is the seventh to be granted bail. In 2021, Sudha Bharadwaj was granted default bail, whereas Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, and Arun Ferreira were granted bail based on their merits. For medical reasons, Varavara Rao has been granted bail. Professor Shoma Sen was granted bail by the Supreme Court last month. Mahesh Raut was granted bail by the Bombay High Court based on merits; however, the High Court itself stayed the rulings, and the Supreme Court further extended the stay order. In July 2021, Father Stan Swamy, another accused, passed dead while in police custody.

Case Specifics:

1. 1. Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 9216 of 2022 Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Agency & Anr.
2. 2. Gautam P. Navlakha & Anr. v. National Investigation Agency | Petition for Special Leave (Criminal) No. 167 of 2024