‘Only HC Can Transfer Elgar Parishad Case to NIA’: Defence Lawyer

Case is related to speeches delivered at Elgar Parishad conclave and violence near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial.

The five activists who were arrested by the Pune police in the Elgar Parishad case in August 2018.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A defence lawyer in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case argued on Thursday, 6 February, that only the high court can transfer the case to the special NIA court.

A sessions court in Pune is hearing an application filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to transfer the case.

The agency moved the court after the Union government transferred the probe to the central agency.

The NIA lawyer on Thursday, 6 February sought transfer of case papers, seized data, court records and proceedings to the special NIA court in Mumbai.

Centre Last Month Transferred the Probe From Pune Police to the NIA

Advocate Siddharth Patil, one of the defence lawyers, argued that as per section 407 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a case can be transferred from one district to another only by the high court.

“Not only the (main) charge sheet but supplementary charge sheet has been filed and we are in the middle of framing charges.”

Advocate Siddharth Patil

"This court does not have the power to transfer the case," he argued.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar said she wanted a day's time to argue on the NIA's plea.

Additional sessions judge SR Navandar then adjourned the hearing to Friday, 7 February.

The Centre last month transferred the probe from Pune Police to the NIA, a decision which the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra criticised.

Maharashtra Government Had Taken Steps to Review the Police Probe

The case is related to speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwarwada here on 31 December 2017, and the next day's violence near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial in the district.

Pune Police claimed that the conclave was backed by Maoists, and the speeches made there triggered the violence.

During the probe, the police arrested Left-leaning activists Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao for alleged Maoist links.

The new government in Maharashtra had taken steps to review the police probe.