New Delhi, May 28 :
The Delhi High Court has pulled up the probe agency, NIA, for acting in unseemly haste in taking away civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, accused in Bhima Koregaon violence case, from the national capital to Mumbai even when his interim bail plea was pending here.
Justice Anup J. Bhambhani, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, said there was an evident haste shown by the NIA in moving pleas across Mumbai and Delhi over weekends and gazetted holidays (Eid) and obtaining orders by e-mail, and whisking away Navlakha to Mumbai, which has rendered these proceedings infructuous.
While the order was passed on Wednesday, it was made available on court’s website on Thursday. Navlakha, who had surrendered before the NIA (National Investigation Agency) on April 14 in pursuance to the Supreme Court’s direction and was lodged in Tihar Jail, was taken to Mumbai by train on May 26.
While ordinarily this court would not see too much cause for hurry in this case, in view of the inexplicable, frantic hurry shown by the NIA in moving the applicant from Delhi to Mumbai while this matter was pending and the NIA had itself sought time to file status report, this court does get a sense that all proceedings in this jurisdiction would be rendered utterly infructuous if an element of of urgency is not brought to bear on the present proceedings, the high court said.
The high court noted that on the last date it had granted adequate time to the NIA to file its status report in response to the interim bail plea and the agency has filed an affidavit opposing the plea. “Prima-facie it appears that while on the last date, this court had granted adequate time to the NIA to file its status report in response to the interim bail plea and while the NIA has filed an affidavit opposing that plea, the NIA has acted in unseemly haste to instead remove the applicant out of the very Jurisdiction of this court and, if the applicant is right, without even Informing the Special Judge (NIA), Mumbai or the Special Judge (NIA), Delhi of the pendency of the present proceedings,” the high court said.
The high court had earlier sought response of the NIA on a plea by 67-year-old Navlakha who said, given his advanced age, he was vulnerable to catching coronavirus or other infections, especially in a crowded environment like prison.
During the hearing, advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha, told the court while the interim bail plea is pending, on May 23, NIA requested the special judge (NIA) Delhi to extend his judicial custody till June 22 and on May 24, a Sunday, an application was filed by the agency before Special Judge (NIA), Mumbai seeking his production warrants.
