Gautam Navlakha was active member of banned terrorist group involved in attacks against security forces: Mumbai court

Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha was a member of banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist), which attacked and killed many government security forces, a Mumbai court held while rejecting the activist's bail plea. .In an order uploaded on Wednesday, Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge Rajesh Katariya opined that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against Navlakha were prima facie true. "The supplementary chargesheet and documents relied by the prosecution prima facie shows that applicant is active member of said banned terrorist organization and he carries out activities in furtherance of object of said organization. Various documents are seized from applicant during his house search through electronic gazettes. The documents produced with chargesheet shows active involvement of applicant in crime and participation in conspiracy...It also shows that he underwent weapon training with other accused,” the order stated..The sessions court also took into account that the chargesheet showed that there was a nexus between Navlakha and Kashmiri separatist Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai along with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General. “Considering totality of material, Navlakha’s role cannot be segregated from role of the co-accused in the case and there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against Navlakha are prima facie true,” the judge concluded, rejecting Navlakha’s bail application..Navlakha, who is human rights activist and former secretary of People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), was arrested in August 2018.On November 10 last year, the Supreme Court allowed his plea to be shifted back to house arrest for a month. This was extended on December 13. He is presently residing in Navi Mumbai city of Thane district.Navlakha moved the High Court after a special NIA court rejected his bail plea on September 5 last year.The High Court ruled that the bail application requires fresh hearing by the special court, and remanded the case back to the court..[Read order]