Bombay HC Permits Elgar Parishad Accused Anand Teltumbde To Meet His Mother

Anand Teltumbde. 

(Photo: The Quint) 

The Bomday High Court permitted Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad case, to meet his nonagenarian mother for two days, from 8 to 10 March, in Chandrapur, The Indian Express reported.

This comes three months after the death of his brother and Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde, who died in an encounter with Maharashtra police personnel on 13 November 2021.

A bench comprising Justices Sunil Shukre and GA Sanap issued the order, stating:

“The applicant is allowed to meet his mother in Chandrapur on March 8 and 9. To achieve the purpose of meeting his mother, he shall be taken with police escort with appropriate Bandobast in a manner so as to reach Chandrapur by morning or afternoon of March 8. Thereafter the applicant shall leave Chandrapur along with police escort on March 10 at appropriate time and if some time is available before leaving, the applicant shall be permitted to meet his mother on March 10 if possible. The applicant shall be brought back to Taloja jail under police escort on March 11. The applicant shall be allowed to stay in Chandrapur. Travelling expenses of applicant and stay at Chandrapur shall be borne by applicant.”

The order was passed as part of Teltumbde's temporary bail plea, which was filed following his brother's demise.

The court also said that Teltumbde was permitted to meet nobody else apart from his mother, adding that the cost of providing a police escort with the accused will be borne by the Maharashtra government.

NIA Opposes Teltumbde's Bail Plea

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), represented by advocate Sandesh Patil, had requested the court to not entertain the bail plea of the accused, as per reports by The Indian Express.

“The seriousness is that who has died was a wanted accused who died in an ambush,” Patil argued.

The bench said, “Death is death. Milind Teltumbde may be an accused, he may have been involved in activities… but then ultimately he was the present applicant’s brother. There has been a loss of human life.”

The bench also noted that the accused was yearning to meet his mother at Chandrapur, to offer her moral support and to perform his duty as a brother.

Sudha Bharadwaj, a co-accused in the Elgar Parishad case, was permitted to attend her father's funeral in August 2019.

Teltumbde has also challenged the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), under which he was charged.

The court is scheduled to hear the petition after four weeks.

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)