A government lawyer told the Bombay High Court that though prison inmates can talk to their relatives or lawyers on phone, she was not sure if the facility could be granted to activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. Navlakha, 70, is accused of a serious offence, said lawyer Sangeeta Shinde, representing the Maharashtra government.

A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and NR Borkar then granted her time till July 12 to make the government's stand in the matter clear. The HC was hearing a writ petition filed by Navlakha through his counsel Yug Mohit Chaudhary, seeking that he be allowed to make phone calls and video calls from the Taloja prison near Mumbai where he is lodged. Video call (VC) facility was offered to all inmates during the Covid-19 pandemic, but with in-person meetings resuming in prisons, it has been withdrawn, the lawyer said.