"No evidence against Gautam Navlakha proving conspiracy to commit terrorist act"

The Bombay High Court has emphasized that there is no material on record suggesting that Gautam Navlakha conspired to commit any terrorist act Navlakha an accused in the Elgar ParishadMaoist links case was granted bail on TuesdayThe division bench comprising Justices A S Gadkari and S G Dige issued the bail order on Tuesday and the full text of the judgment became available on WednesdayThe High Court after examining the available material concluded that there is no evidence of any covert or overt terrorist act attributed to Navlakha The judgment stated From the material on record it appears to us that no covert or overt terrorist act has been attributed to the appellant NavlakhaGautam Navlakha who was arrested in August 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad case was permitted by the Supreme Court to be placed under house arrest in November 2022 Presently residing in Navi Mumbai Maharashtra Navlakhas bail has been a subject of legal scrutinyThe High Courts judgment emphasized that based on the material presented by the National Investigation Agency NIA there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations against Navlakha are prima facie true The court expressed the opinion that Navlakhas intention at most was to commit the alleged crime and that this intention had not transformed into preparation or an attempt to commit a terrorist actThe court noted that the witness statements suggested Navlakhas association with the Communist Party of India Maoist which if proven would attract provisions of participating in an unlawful activity and membership of a terrorist organization under sections 13 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act respectively These sections provide for a maximum punishment not exceeding ten yearsIn Photos Gautam Navlakha granted bailRegarding the documents mentioning Navlakhas name the court raised concerns about their probative value stating that they have weak probative value or quality The documents recovered from coaccused were considered hearsay evidence and lacked sufficient substance to implicate Navlakha directlyThe High Court also referenced the Supreme Courts order granting bail to coaccused Vernon Gonsalves highlighting that mere possession of literature even if advocating violence does not constitute an offense under the Unlawful Activities Prevention ActRefuting the NIAs claim of Navlakhas connections with Pakistans InterServices Intelligence ISI the court observed that Navlakhas letter seeking clemency for a USbased Kashmiri separatist was written in his individual capacity and not indicative of any illicit affiliationsNavlakha had spent three years in jail and the court noted that the trial court had not yet framed charges in the case Considering the bleak possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future the High Court deemed it appropriate to grant bail to NavlakhaThe Elgar Parishad case initially revolved around alleged inflammatory speeches made during the conclave held in Pune on December 31 2017 Pune Police claimed that the conclave had Maoist backing and that the speeches triggered caste violence near the KoregaonBhima war memorial in Pune district the following day Despite the bail the possibility of further legal challenges looms as the bench stayed the order for three weeks allowing the NIA to approach the Supreme Court for an appeal With inputs from agencies