Teltumbde did not visit mother despite court nod, refused to travel by train: jail authorities to HC

The court was informed that the 71-year-old was not in a position to take “arduous train journey” to Chandrapur and hoped that he could take a flight instead. The court told the state government that such problems faced by prisoners should be considered.

On March 2, the bench had allowed Teltumbde to meet his nonagenarian mother in Chandrapur under strict conditions from March 8 to 10 after the death of his brother Milind, a top Maoist leader, who was killed in an encounter on November 13, 2021 in Gadchiroli.

The court had said the expenses of police escort and other necessary expenses shall be borne by the state government and travelling expenses of the applicant and stay in Chandrapur shall be borne by him.

A division bench of Justice Sunil B Shukre and Justice Govinda A Sanap was hearing Teltumbde’s appeal against rejection of his bail plea by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, along with his writ plea challenging the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Additional public prosecutor for state prison authorities Sangeeta D Shinde submitted to the bench a report in a sealed cover pertaining to a letter addressed by Teltumbde saying that he wanted to challenge the court order, and added that the attitude shown by Teltumbde in the letter was unacceptable.

However, Mihir Desai, the senior advocate for Teltumbde, said his client had only recently undergone a spinal procedure at state-run J J Hospital and also had extreme pain in his tooth and underwent a tooth removal procedure, so he would be unable to take the long train journey to Chandrapur and he was under impression that he could go by flight. Desai said Teltumbde did not move the apex court against the High Court’s order.

The court took the state’s report on record and told the state lawyer, “If he (Teltumbde) wants to file an appeal, nothing stops him. In such matters, broad consideration is necessary. If he has spent so much time in prison with so many ailments, then that needs to be considered. We do not think that there is any problem if you see it from this point of view.”

The court added that Teltumbde was entitled to seek remedies in accordance with law.