On Tuesday, Gautam Navlakha’s attorney, Yug Mohit Chaudhri, told the Bombay High Court that Navlakha is being accused of having Maoist ties although he has only conducted a few interviews and published them as a ‘journalist’. Navlakha is one of the accused held in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
“Allegations against me is that I have a connection with Maoist leader. That is correct because I have conducted interviews and published them. Consider if a journalist wants to interview Dawood Ibrahim and goes to Pakistan on a valid visa then would MCOCA be attracted?” the lawyer said on behalf of the accused.
He said that while it does not represent organized crime, contacting them is necessary in order to conduct an interview. He also cited the charge sheet’s reference to the paper that was discovered on Navlakha’s computer. He explained to the court that it was really a critique of Maoist ideology, practice, and brutality.
The attorney further relied on Navlakha’s book and said, “When you read the passages he is talking about the massacre conducted by Maoists and criticizing it and asking who is authorizing it. Can it be said he is indulging in violence? He is pointing to three acts of Maoist and asking who is authorizing them. I could point to a large number of articles written by him where he is criticizing Maoist but those are not part of the chargesheet.”
The Bombay High Court was informed by the NIA in its response to the bail motion made by the accused Gautam Navlakha that the terrorist Ghulam Nabi Fai had referred Gautam Navlakha to a Pakistani ISI General in order to recruit him.
Moreover, according to the NIA, Navlakha made three trips to the US to speak to the Ghulam Nabi Fai-founded Kashmiri American Council. The reply further indicated that Navlakha had written to the US Court requesting clemency after Fai was detained by the FBI.
Ghulam Nabi Fai was arrested by the FBI in July 2011 for accepting funds from ISI and Pakistan Government, but failed to report the origin of those funds, as required by US law. It is established that, accused Gautam Navlakha had written a letter to the Hon’ble Judge of the US Court, trying Ghulam Fai’s case for clemency. Accused Gautam Navlakha had also submitted letters to Hon’ble US Court on behalf of Fai,” the reply read.
After being detained at Taloja Jail cell, Gautam Navlakha was arrested among the other accused parties in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon Violence case. The Bombay High Court rejected Navlakha’s request in April of last year for a directive to be placed under house arrest till the conclusion of the trial. Navlakha had asked for a transfer out of Taloja Prison because of his old age and health issues.
The Supreme Court recently permitted his plea to be changed to house arrest in November 2022. In September 2022, a Special NIA Court denied Navlkha’s request for release, and he then appealed to the high court.
