Elgaar Parishad case | Can’t give nod ‘every now and then’: Court rejects Navlakha’s plea to travel to Delhi

Rejecting the plea, the court stated that being allowed to travel and stay once in Delhi, does not mean that “every now and then”, he will be granted permission.

Navlakha, a Delhi resident, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2023, with one of the conditions being that he cannot leave the jurisdiction of the trial court in Mumbai without its permission.

In April this year, the 72-year-old Navlakha cited living expenses and increasing finances in Mumbai to seek permission to shift to Delhi, pending trial, which the special court had rejected, stating that the high court set conditions did not permit it.

The trial in the case is yet to begin, seven years after the first arrests in 2018.

In the latest plea, he submitted that he wants to travel as his sister cannot come to Mumbai due to her health condition.

He also submitted that he wants to meet his partner’s children and grandchildren who are visiting in August, whom he has not met since his arrest in 2020. He also submitted that he wants to visit his doctor and take care of domestic affairs.

Special judge C S Baviskar said that the High Court had in its “magnanimous humanity”, granted permission to Navlakha to travel but with the permission of the trial court.

“While imposing such conditions, the Hon’ble High Court axiomatically expected the accused not to go beyond the jurisdiction of the Court, save for exceptional and extraordinary circumstance and that too, only after prior permission of the trial court ie. this court,” the court said, in its order on July 30, made available this week.

The special court said that Navlakha in moving a plea previously rejected, to shift to Delhi had shown “utter disregard towards intention and objective of the Hon’ble High Court” and called his plea to seek permission now to stay in Delhi for 45 days, a “trick”.

“Now, perhaps to give go by to the intention and directions of the Hon’ble High Court as above, the applicant/accused ingeniously has found out the trick of moving such application after application with the same prayer on the same grounds to facilitate him to reside at Delhi. It is not at all expected,” the court said.