The Supreme Court on Tuesday verbally told Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha’s advocate, Shadan Farasat, that if house arrest was sought, the surveillance expenses incurred by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) must be paid.
Nonetheless, the senior counsel contended that paying the expenses was of no difficulty and that the issue is about calculating such expenses. He added that he would take the latest calculation from the Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the NIA, and will address it.
Subsequently, the bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice SVN Bhatti adjourned the matter while making it clear that it would examine the calculation, as filed by the agency, and objections regarding the same on the next hearing date.
Gautam Navlakha has been in custody since August 2018 for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, after being arrested in connection with the 2018 caste-based violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon in Pune and for allegedly furthering the agenda of proscribed far-left outfit Communist Party of India (Maoists) and conspiring to overthrow the government. The accused has been under house arrest since November 2022 following the apex court’s intervention.
The Supreme Court was hearing Gautam Navlakha’s plea for shifting his house arrest location in Mumbai, alongside the NIA’s plea challenging a Bombay High Court order granting him bail in December last year. The high court had suspended the operation of the bail order for three weeks. The stay was extended by the apex court in January.
In the earlier proceedings, the investigation agency has expressed its concerns over the order of house arrest. An order was passed in November 2022 by a bench led by now-retired Justice KM Joseph, allowing Gautam Navlakha to be released from detention and placed under house arrest on the grounds of his deteriorating health.