Protection from arrest to Navlakha till November 1

Mumbai: The Bombay high court (HC) has extended protection from arrest to one of the left-wing activists accused of inciting violence at Bhima-Koregaon, Gautam Navlakha, till November 1.

The state government argued that it had substantial material to show the involvement of the accused, including Navlakha, and opposed quashing of the FIR.

The prosecution also argued that the Pune cou-rt had rejected bail of the other three accused in the case, which meant that the police had material for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the HC has not given relief to activist Arun Ferreira after the Pune court rejected his bail.

A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre heard Navlakha’s petition, filed through advocate Yug Chowdhary, seeking quashing of the FIR lodged against him by the Pune police.

On Friday, government lawyer Aruna Pai opposed the pleas of both Navlakha and Teltumbde. The police had enough evidence against the two as well as the other accused, she said.

Advocate Chowdhary, on the other hand, said that the charges against Navlakha and the other accused were baseless and that they were “professors and intellectuals working in public interest for decades”.

The high court, however, refused to grant any interim relief to professor Teltumbde, another accused in the case who has not been arrested yet. Teltumbde on Friday afternoon moved the high court after his anticipatory (pre-arrest) bail plea was rejected by a lower court.

The high court said that it would hear his plea on November 1.