Gautam Navlakha tells Supreme Court NIA not complying with house arrest order; NIA alleges Navlakha wants to stay at Communist Party library

Gautam Navlakha, accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the top court's order directing that Navlakha be shifted from jail and placed under house arrest, is not being complied with by the State authorities..The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud by Navlakha's counsel Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan."They were supposed to inspect premises within 48 hours and not within 96 hours and the order was on November 10. The order is not being followed," she submitted.On the other hand, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the National Investigation Agency (NIA), claimed that Navlakha, instead of providing details of a house where he wants to be placed under house arrest, has given details of a library cum residential place belonging to the Communist Party."He is a Maoist and we objected to it. But now instead of house he has given the address of a library cum stay place of the Communist Party," the SG said.Ramakrishnan objected to the argument."Not at all. It was mentioned that it is a library," she said.The SG said that the NIA is also seeking certain directions from the Court and has filed an application."NIA is also seeking some directions. Please list this on Monday," the SG requested. The CJI eventually proceeded to list the matter for hearing tomorrow before the bench headed by Justice KM Joseph which had passed the house arrest order. .On November 10 this year, the Supreme Court had allowed Navlakha to be shifted to house arrest from jail for a month, subject to certain conditions..Navlakha was asked to deposit an amount of ₹2.4 lakh as expenses for his security cover when he is under house arrest, "We would thus think that he should be allowed to be placed for house arrest for a period of one month. There will be armed escorts to monitor that there is no misuse of the house arrest," a bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy had ordered.The Court had also directed that Navlakha shall not be permitted to use computer, internet or any other communication device while under house arrest.Subsequently, Navlakha had moved the Court seeking waiver of the requirement of a solvency certificate towards local surety as part of the terms of house arrest. This plea was allowed by the top court on October 15. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.