Bhima Koregaon case: Bombay High Court seeks NIA response on Gautam Navlakha plea for regular bail

The Bombay High Court Monday issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a bail plea filed by activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018..A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and SG Dige directed the NIA to file its reply to Navlakha's plea challenging an order of a special court rejecting his regular bail applicationThe High Court also directed the lawyers to ensure all dates in relation to the case are correctly placed on record since the bail plea had been heard twice by the special court. .The special NIA court had rejected Navlakha’s plea after re-hearing the same, as directed by the High Court. The special court had observed in the order that Navlakha was a member of banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist), which attacked and killed many government security forces.It had also opined that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against Navlakha were prima facie true.In his appeal filed through advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhary, Navlakha claimed the special judge had erred in his reasoning to reject the plea. He contended that the observation of him being a member of the banned terrorist group was wrong and uncalled for. He sought quashing and setting aside of the bail order and urged the court to release him on bail. .Navlakha was arrested in August 2018. On November 10, 2022, the Supreme Court allowed his plea to be shifted from prison and kept under house arrest. He is presently residing in Navi Mumbai city of Thane district..This is Navlakha’s second round of appeal in High Court seeking regular bail.Navlakha had earlier moved the High Court after the special NIA court had rejected his regular bail plea on September 5 last year. NIA had opposed Navlakha’s bail plea, claiming that he had been introduced to a Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General for his recruitment, which shows his nexus with the organisation.The High Court had, however, opined that the reasoning in the order of the special court was cryptic and did not contain analysis of the evidence relied upon by the prosecution.In view of this, the High Court had ruled that the bail application requires fresh hearing by the special court, and had remanded the case back to the court.It had also directed the special judge to conclude the hearing within four weeks.Accordingly, Navlakha had moved the special court for re-hearing his case for regular bail.The special judge Rajesh Katariya had then re-heard the plea on the same pleadings and rejected the bail plea on April 6 prompting the present appeal.