NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha to withdraw his plea to be held in Delhi under house arrest after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) objected to his request.
A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna allowed Navlakha’s lawyer senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan to withdraw the application as she informed the court to find suitable alternative accommodation in Mumbai.
Navalakha is an accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with his alleged role in fomenting violence in Maharashtra’s Bhima Koregaon village on January 1, 2018. The NIA accused him of having links with the banned Maoist outfit, Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Navlakha is currently under house arrest in Navi Mumbai on an order passed by the Supreme Court on November 10 in view of his advanced age and health ailments.
Since Navlakha is a resident of Delhi, he sought to be kept under house arrest in the national capital but the request was opposed by solicitor general Tushar Mehta who appeared for the Maharashtra government.
Ramakrishnan said that she did not wish to press the application and should be allowed four weeks time to look for a place in Mumbai. The bench said that no purpose will be served to keep the application pending and asked her to withdraw.
Mehta told the court that there was some outstanding payment for the round-the-clock police personnel at the Navi Mumbai house. Ramakrishnan said she was open to paying and that she initially deposited ₹2.4 lakh as the estimated cost for deputing security personnel at the house.
Navlakha’s companion along with a housekeeping staffer was allowed to stay with him but he was restrained from using mobile phones, gadgets or the Internet.