SC removes hurdle, Gautam Navlakha set for house arrest this week

It had said that to avail the facility of house arrest, Navlakha will provide local surety of Rs 2 lakh by November 14.

A bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy was on Tuesday informed by senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan and advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for Navlakha, that it will take a minimum of six weeks to secure solvency certificate in respect of surety to be provided as a precondition for house arrest of the activist.

“Considering the submission and the circumstances, we deem it appropriate to waive the requirement of a solvency certificate for the petitioner (Navlakha) to avail the benefit of our order dated November 10, 2022. It is ordered accordingly,” the bench said.

It said since other adequate security proofs such as passport, Aadhaar card and Permanent Account Number (PAN) card have been provided, the trial court should not insist on a ration card as an additional proof of identity for the benefit of the apex court’s order to take effect.

Later in the day, Navlakha’s lawyers Wahab Khan and Chandni Chawla informed the special court in Mumbai that the Supreme Court has waived the requirement of a solvency certificate, which would have taken six weeks.

The apex court had directed Navlakha to furnish the surety by November 14. On Monday, the court in Mumbai was informed that the solvency certificate may take over a month. The lawyers had also informed that a demand draft submitted to the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate for expenses for the security personnel was not accepted. On Tuesday, the court was informed that the commissionerate had accepted the demand draft.

Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty informed the court that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will be submitting a report on the evaluation of the space in Navi Mumbai where Navlakha will be residing during his house arrest. Shetty also told the court that the NIA will complete the verification of the surety by Wednesday. Navlakha’s lawyers told the court that the person providing the surety will be present in court on Wednesday as well. Once the bail formalities are complete, Navlakha will be released and shifted to the space where he will be under house arrest.

Meanwhile, the special court has directed the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police to look into the issue of non-compliance of a court’s order on mosquito prevention by Taloja jail authorities.

Lawyer Deepa Punjani, representing activist-academic Anand Teltumbde, told the court that contempt proceedings should be initiated by the Taloja jail authorities as they had not complied with an order to ensure provisions to be provided as per Maharashtra Prison (Prison Hospital) Rules.

Punjani had submitted previously that the rules state that mosquito nets be provided for prisons in malaria-prone localities. In July, the court had rejected the pleas of the accused in the case seeking nets, with directions to the jail superintendent to take “all necessary precautions against mosquitoes”. The lawyer submitted that reports were sought from the jail but the prison authorities had not responded nor had they complied with the court’s order in September, directing the inspector general to remain present before it.

Special Judge Rajesh Katariya directed the DIG to look into the matter for compliance of its orders. It said that in spite of repeated orders, the jail superintendent had not filed a compliance report. –With inputs from PTI.