Order allowing Gautam Navlakha’s house arrest might set wrong precedent, says SC

The human right activist, who has been accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was placed under house arrest in November.

Sep 1, 2023 - 21:30

Order allowing Gautam Navlakha’s house arrest might set wrong precedent, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday said that its November order allowing human rights activist Gautam Navlakha to be placed under house arrest might set a “wrong precedent”, reported Live Law.

Navlakha, who was arrested in August 2018, was placed under house arrest on November 19 on the basis of an order passed by a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice KM Joseph, who has since retired. This was after the activist filed a plea seeking to be shifted from jail on the grounds of ill health and poor facilities in prison.

Navlakha has been accused of involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case, which pertains to caste violence in a village near Pune in 2018. He was among 16 people arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.

On Friday, a Supreme Court bench of Justices MM Sundresh and JB Pardiwala was considering Navlakha’s application to shift his house arrest location from Pune to Mumbai, reported Live Law.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the bench the order placing Navlakha under house arrest was an unusual order and is probably the first of its kind, PTI reported.

“He obtained the house order on grounds of his sickness,” Raju said. “He said one lady would stay with him. But she isn’t staying most of the time.”

He contended that the house arrest order was...