The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently presented more evidence in the Elgar Parishad case before the special court, including the testimony of UAPA accused Umar Khalid.
The NIA included Khalid’s statement, recorded at the office of the deputy superintendent of Tihar jail in New Delhi, where he is being held in connection with the Delhi riots case, in the evidence filed to the court. In his testimony to the investigative agency, Khalid stated that one of the event’s organisers, Justice BG Kolse-Patil (retired), had invited him to the event.
Umar Khalid said, “Retired Justice Shri BG Kolse Patil had invited me for Elgar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017. “During my visit to Pune, I stayed at the house of Justice (retired) Kolse Patil. I don’t remember who arranged the flight tickets for me. Before delivering my speech at any place, I take local knowledge from any known person. No one had given me any script of speech for the Elgar Parishad meeting,” Khalid added.
Breaking:
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) April 15, 2022
According to reports, NIA has recorded a statement of #UmarKhalid stating that he attended the Elgar Parishad meeting in December 2017 at the invitation of former #BombayHighCourt judge Justice Kholse-Patil. Khalid has further claimed that he stayed at his residence
He went on to say that at the Elgar Parishad meeting, many people were there on stage and that a video of it, along with his remarks, can be seen on YouTube. He stated that following the event, he went to the home of Justice Kolse Patil.
Khalid further informed the NIA that he knew Rona Wilson, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case since she came to JNU to give a lecture and that he also knew Arun Ferreira, another accused whom he met at a book launch function.
Because he too attended the event in Mumbai, Khalid’s testimony was recorded by the NIA as a witness in the trial before the Special NIA Court.
The Elgar Parishad case
The Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case concerns an event held on December 31, 2017, in Shaniwar Wada dubbed Elgar Parishad. For the Elgar Parishad event, a number of people gathered, including activists and retired Supreme Court judges Justice PB Sawant and Justice Patil. The next day, January 1, 2018, large-scale violence erupted in Bhima Koregaon, where lakhs of Dalits had assembled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, which was won by the British Army—mostly Dalit soldiers—against the Peshwas in 1818.
The inquiry was conducted by the Pune police for two years before being handed to the National Investigation Agency in January 2021. Sudha Bharadwaj, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, and Varavara Rao were among nine alleged “intellectuals” detained by Pune police for inciting statements. After the death of the sixteenth accused, Father Stan Swamy, there are now 15 defendants in the case.
Justice Sawant and Patil, on the other hand, are not charged in the case, despite the fact that they claim to have organised and sponsored the event. Khalid, too, has not been accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Because Khalid was present at the Elgar Parishad event, the NIA recorded his testimony as a witness before the court.
