The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 29 August, halted proceedings in the transit remand plea of human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, citing the Supreme Court which ordered a stay on the transit remand of all the five arrested activists till 6 September.
The apex court has issued a notice to the Maharashtra police on the arrests of the activists, seeking their response in the case by 6 September. The activists will be placed under house arrest till then, the three-judge bench said.
The Delhi High Court’s Judge J Muralidhar, citing the Supreme Cout’s order, said it would not be appropriate to pass an order when the apex court had already done so in a petition with a similar prayer – thereby halting the proceedings.
Navlakha was arrested on Tuesday, following several raids after which his transit remand was secured from Saket district court to take him to Pune. However, the order was stayed by the Delhi High Court.
Plea Filed by Navlakha’s Counsel
The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence that took place on 1 January, 2017.
According to Bar and Bench, the petition also mentions that the Pune police were not willing to disclose any of the details of their designations.
Meanwhile, Justice S Muralidhar, while going through the Pune police's transit remand, reportedly said that it was not possible for them to make a case against Navlakha based on the documents that had been submitted.
It is not possible to make out a case from the documents placed before us.Justice S Muralidhar
He also demanded that the police team specify its allegation against Navlakha, rather than submit its conclusion.
Navlakha's transit remand was initially approved by the Metropolitan Magistrate in New Delhi's Saket, before the Delhi High Court issued a stay on it.
(With inputs from PTI)
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