Elgar Parishad case: Bombay HC bench recuses from hearing bail pleas of DU professor Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha

Mumbai: A two-judge bench of the Bombay High Court recused itself from hearing the bail plea of Delhi University's associate professor Hany Babu and the plea of Gautam Navlakha, both accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, without citing any reason. The bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and VG Bisht was hearing the bail plea of Babu in which he stated that the purported letter cited by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), speaking of a conspiracy to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi, did not incriminate him.

Babu said the unsigned letter, which the NIA claimed was found on the computer of Babu's co-accused Rona Wilson, was neither written by him nor addressed to him. It did not mention his role in the alleged conspiracy, Babu stated. His plea, filed through counsels Yug Chaudhry and Payoshi Roy, was mentioned before a vacation bench of the high court last month. At that time, the vacation bench directed that the plea be heard by a regular bench of the high court.

On Wednesday, when Babu's plea came up before a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and VG Bisht, the bench recused itself from hearing it without citing any reason. Justice Mohite-Dere also recused herself from hearing a plea filed by Navlakha, who has sought, among other things, access to telephone calls at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai, where he is currently lodged as an undertrial.

Navlakha, 71, has been lodged inside the high security 'anda cell' of the Taloja prison since October last year. In his plea, Babu said that the special NIA judge DE Kothalikar had "erred" in holding that the letter showed prima facie existence of incriminating material against him.

The judge had said that the letter spoke of a "Rajiv Gandhi assassination like conspiracy" to kill Modi and that it incriminated Babu in the case. Judge Kothalikar had made this observation while rejecting Babu's bail on merits in February this year.

Babu filed his appeal in HC last month, challenging the NIA court order. Babu further said in his plea that there existed no evidence to even suggest that he intended to, or, supported causing disaffection against India.

The plea stated that the trial in the case was yet to commence, and it will take time to conclude as the NIA had cited over 50 witnesses, and the chargesheet ran into 30,000 pages. He urged the HC to grant him bail.

Babu, who was arrested in July 2020 from his residence in Delhi, is also lodged at the Taloja prison. The pleas of Babu and Navlakha pleas will come up for hearing before an appropriate bench later this month.

In 2019, Justice Mohite-Dere had recused herself from hearing pleas by eight accused persons in the case, who had challenged a Pune sessions court order taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed in the case by local police, the initial prosecuting agency in the case.

In the past, Justices PB Varale, SS Shinde and Sadhana Jadhav of the Bombay High Court had also recused themselves from hearing the Elgar Parishad matters.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city's outskirts.

The Pune police had claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. The probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused, was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).