Seized Books not banned: Vernon Gonsalves

The counsel of Vernon Gonsalves, one of the activists arrested for allegedly inciting violence in Bhima Koreg-aon in December 2017, on Thursday argued before the high court that there was no prima facie evidence against him to reject his bail.

Mr Gonsalves’ counsel, Mihir Desai, told a single bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal, which was hearing the bail application, that the “incriminating” bo-oks that were seized from Mr Gonsalves’ house last year were easily available on e-commerce site Amazon and that the government had not banned them under Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) either.

Citing the government’s ignorance toward literature, Mr Desai said, “On August 28, 2018, in the house search of Mr Gonsalves, the police had seized books and CDs on the basis of which it has implicated him in the case, but for one year the state government has not banned these books.”

He also argued that letters and e-mails found from Surendra Gadling and Rona Wilson, other accused in the case, did not mention anything about him.

Mr Desai also stated that Mr Gonsalves is a gold medallist from Mumbai University and has taught in various reputed Mumbai colleges besides being a columnist for a reputed Indian newspaper.

The counsel also cited judgments of a US court and the Gujarat high court to emphasise that no offence is attributed if objectionable books are found in the possession of an accused and argued that “mere possession of books doesn’t prove my involvement in the crime.”

He also mentioned two witnesses, Pahad Singh and Satyadev Ramteke, and brought to the notice of the court that both of them had never seen Mr Gonsalves in their life and whatever they have stated in the statement “is only hearsay”.

The court will hear the prosecution’s arguments on Friday.

The police had seized CDs titled Marxist Archives; Jai Bhim Comrade, a National Award wining film; and Rajya Daman Virodhi, a drama released by the Kabir Kala Manch, and books such as War and Peace in Junglemahal by Biswajit Roy. Marathi books such as “Maovadyanche Yuddha Konasathi Aani Kashasathi and Aamhala Dusara Desh Dya were also seized.