Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, was on Wednesday allowed by the Bombay High Court to visit his mother in Chandrapur, Maharashtra between March 8 to 10, on account of the death of his brother, Milind Teltumbde, who was a wanted Maoist leader.
A Bench of Justice S.B. Shukre and Justice G.A. Sanap partly allowed the application by Teltumbde, observing that the applicant had lost his brother and was yearning to meet his mother in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, so as to offer her moral support as well as to perform his duty as a brother.
The Court further observed that though Milind was a wanted accused involved in illegal activities, but he was still the brother of the applicant-accused and it was a loss of a human life.
Both Anand and Milind are accused on Bhima Koregaon case. While Anand was in jail, Milind was absconding before he was killed in November last year in an encounter with Maharashtra Police.
The Bench allowed Anand to meet his mother between March 8 to 10, amid escorts and bandobast.
The Court said the visit has to be managed in a way that Teltumbde reaches his hometown by the morning of March 8 and returns to Taloja jail on March 10.
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It also said that all expenses other than that of Teltumbde’s travel and stay will be borne by the Maharashtra Government.
The bench further underlined that he was only permitted to meet his mother and not allowed to meet anybody else.
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Anand, challenging the order of the special court over the same. The Special NIA Judge, while rejecting this application, had reasoned that since the order rejecting regular bail was pending in the High Court, the present application was untenable as it could not have been filed, and hence rejected the same.
Senior Advocate Mihir Desai, appearing for Teltumbde, stated that his father had expired a few years ago and his mother was 92 years old now.
Since his mother was aged, he expressed the desire to spend some time with his family after the unfortunate incident. Another application by Teltumbe seeking regular bail was posted for hearing on March 16.
The Special Court in the order rejecting bail, had held that bail could not be granted relying solely on the criminal jurisprudence principle that “the accused is presumed to be innocent till he is found guilty by the competent court”.
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Teltumbde sought quashing of the order on the ground that the trial would take years to begin, and there were over 200 witnesses to examine. He prayed that if not bail, the Court could grant house arrest.
He also contended that “casteist forces” were not able to digest his success and his implication in the Bhima Koregaon case was an attempt to belittle his achievements and humiliate the Dalits.