Dalit rights activist Anand Teltumbde has approached the Bombay High Court seeking closure of the case against him for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018..A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court had rejected his plea for discharge from the case on May 10, 2024.Teltumbde's plea before the High Court against the special court order came up for hearing on Thursday before a Bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and MS Modak when Justice Kotwal chose to recuse from the matter.Justice Kotwal said that he had heard a lot of bail pleas as a single-judge and judicial propriety demands that it should be heard by a different bench..The NIA has charged Teltumbde with being one of the convenors of the Elgar Parishad event, which allegedly triggered the violence on January 1, 2018. Teltumbde, currently out on bail, has consistently denied these charges and seeks the closure of the case..In his plea before the Bombay High Court, Teltumbde has challenged the trial court's approach, arguing that the court failed to consider observations made by the Bombay High Court in its bail order. Observations made in a bail order are generally solely limited to deciding whether a case for bail is made out or not. However, Teltumbde contends that since bail in UAPA cases cannot be granted without reasonable belief that the accusations are not prima facie true, the trial court should not have ignored the High Court's observations..The plea further disputes the prosecution’s claim that Teltumbde is a senior member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Teltumbde, who is the General Secretary of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR), asserts that there is no evidence to prove that CPDR is the frontal organisation of CPI (Maoist).Regarding the Elgar Parishad event, Teltumbde’s plea acknowledges that his name appears among the list of over 100 convenors in the booklet published by the event organizers. However, he argues that beyond this fact, there is no evidence to suggest that he was involved in any way with the organization or planning of the event..Teltumbde also says that there is material to suggest that he did not participate in the event at Shaniwarwada, Pune, on December 31, 2017."Conjoint reading of all these statements would only lead to a conclusion that this Appellant never participated in the Event which started at 3 pm and the charge in this regard is absolutely false and without any basis," his plea says..The plea also addresses allegations regarding Teltumbde’s alleged involvement in international conferences under the guise of academic visits, where he allegedly exchanged Maoist literature and ideology. It argues."Merely because the Appellant has delivered these lectures would by itself not amount to any offence. It has to be shown that the lectures were delivered so as to incite unlawful activity as defined under the Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act 1967. The Appellant was one among numerous eminent academics such as Prof Hargopal and Prof Amit Bhattacharya who were invited as speakers for delivering memorial lectures for other years," he has submitted..The plea further contests the claim that Teltumbde had meetings with other arrested co-accused. "There is no material discovered by the Investigation agency to show that there was meeting of minds between this Appellant and the others to commit any crime," the plea states. .Teltumbde has maintained that there is no incriminating evidence against him, adding that none of the videos of lectures he delivered, which are freely available on the internet for download, contain any incriminating material or suggest any unlawful activity.Ultimately, Teltumbde’s plea seeks the dismissal of the UAPA charges against him..Teltumbde is currently out on bail in the matter. A special court had previously rejected his bail plea in July 2021, ruling that he was a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).However, the Bombay High Court granted him bail in November 2022, and this decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
Dalit rights activist Anand Teltumbde has approached the Bombay High Court seeking closure of the case against him for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018..A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court had rejected his plea for discharge from the case on May 10, 2024.Teltumbde's plea before the High Court against the special court order came up for hearing on Thursday before a Bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and MS Modak when Justice Kotwal chose to recuse from the matter.Justice Kotwal said that he had heard a lot of bail pleas as a single-judge and judicial propriety demands that it should be heard by a different bench..The NIA has charged Teltumbde with being one of the convenors of the Elgar Parishad event, which allegedly triggered the violence on January 1, 2018. Teltumbde, currently out on bail, has consistently denied these charges and seeks the closure of the case..In his plea before the Bombay High Court, Teltumbde has challenged the trial court's approach, arguing that the court failed to consider observations made by the Bombay High Court in its bail order. Observations made in a bail order are generally solely limited to deciding whether a case for bail is made out or not. However, Teltumbde contends that since bail in UAPA cases cannot be granted without reasonable belief that the accusations are not prima facie true, the trial court should not have ignored the High Court's observations..The plea further disputes the prosecution’s claim that Teltumbde is a senior member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Teltumbde, who is the General Secretary of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR), asserts that there is no evidence to prove that CPDR is the frontal organisation of CPI (Maoist).Regarding the Elgar Parishad event, Teltumbde’s plea acknowledges that his name appears among the list of over 100 convenors in the booklet published by the event organizers. However, he argues that beyond this fact, there is no evidence to suggest that he was involved in any way with the organization or planning of the event..Teltumbde also says that there is material to suggest that he did not participate in the event at Shaniwarwada, Pune, on December 31, 2017."Conjoint reading of all these statements would only lead to a conclusion that this Appellant never participated in the Event which started at 3 pm and the charge in this regard is absolutely false and without any basis," his plea says..The plea also addresses allegations regarding Teltumbde’s alleged involvement in international conferences under the guise of academic visits, where he allegedly exchanged Maoist literature and ideology. It argues."Merely because the Appellant has delivered these lectures would by itself not amount to any offence. It has to be shown that the lectures were delivered so as to incite unlawful activity as defined under the Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act 1967. The Appellant was one among numerous eminent academics such as Prof Hargopal and Prof Amit Bhattacharya who were invited as speakers for delivering memorial lectures for other years," he has submitted..The plea further contests the claim that Teltumbde had meetings with other arrested co-accused. "There is no material discovered by the Investigation agency to show that there was meeting of minds between this Appellant and the others to commit any crime," the plea states. .Teltumbde has maintained that there is no incriminating evidence against him, adding that none of the videos of lectures he delivered, which are freely available on the internet for download, contain any incriminating material or suggest any unlawful activity.Ultimately, Teltumbde’s plea seeks the dismissal of the UAPA charges against him..Teltumbde is currently out on bail in the matter. A special court had previously rejected his bail plea in July 2021, ruling that he was a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).However, the Bombay High Court granted him bail in November 2022, and this decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
