Gautam Navlakha

The Delhi High Court has said that the NIA showed “inexplicable, frantic hurry” in moving activist Gautam Navlakha, who has been charged under the UAPA in the Elgaar Parishad Case, from Delhi to Mumbai when his interim bail plea was pending for hearing before it.

Navlakha was transferred to Mumbai on Tuesday, a day before his interim bail application was listed for hearing.

“While ordinarily this court would not see too much cause for hurry in this case, in view of the inexplicable, frantic hurry shown by the NIA in moving the applicant from Delhi to Mumbai while this matter was pending and the NIA had itself sought time to file status report, this court does get a sense that all proceedings in this jurisdiction would be rendered utterly infructuous if an element of urgency is not brought to bear on the present proceedings,” Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani observed.

The court said, “…the NIA has acted in unseemly haste to instead remove the applicant out of the very jurisdiction of this court; and, if the applicant is right, without even informing the Special Judge (NIA), Mumbai or the Special Judge (NIA), Delhi of the pendency of the present proceedings.”

The court had on May 22 sought NIA’s response on Navlakha’s plea seeking interim bail on the ground that due to his “advanced age”, he is at “higher risk” of being infected by Covid-19 in jail. Navlakha (67) also said he has a “pre-existing underlying” medical condition. The matter was fixed for further hearing on Wednesday.

The court’s observations came on Wednesday, when Navlakha’s counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan apprised it that, while proceedings were pending before it, Navlakha was put on a train and taken to Mumbai. He is presently stated to be lodged at Taloja Jail in Mumbai.

Ramakrishnan said that the “only purpose for which the NIA has taken such hasty actions is to render the present proceedings infructuous and to take the applicant out of the jurisdiction of this court”. She also submitted that Navlakha was exposed to serious health risk.

On this, Justice Bhambhani observed, “on May 22, 2020 Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General had informed the court that the NIA was planning to transfer the applicant to Mumbai sometime soon in view of opening-up of air travel after obtaining orders from the competent court…”.

“…considering evident haste shown by NIA by moving applications across Mumbai and Delhi over weekends and gazetted holidays and obtaining orders by email, and ‘whisking away’ the applicant to Mumbai as it were, and thereby rendering the present proceedings infructuous, it is deemed necessary to call for the presence of the Investigating Officer of the case from NIA, Mumbai by video-conferencing to answer certain factual queries…,” it said. Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi appeared for NIA, as did Vikram Khalate, the IO for NIA in Mumbai.

The court recorded in its order, “Mr. Khalate explains that it was learnt that the lockdown was reopening for inter-state flights on May 25, 2020 and being unsure of the future course of events in relation to the lockdown, he moved an application on May 23, 2020 for issuance of production warrants.”

The court directed Khalate to submit copies of proceedings in Mumbai and Delhi and medical reports of Navlakha. The matter will be heard on June 3.

Navlakha surrendered before the NIA in Delhi on April 14 after the SC refused to grant more time. —With ENS Mumbai