New Delhi: The family members of Anand Teltumbde, Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale – accused in the Elgar Parishad case – have approached the Bombay high court to challenging the decision to shift them out of Taloja prison to an ‘unspecified prison’ in Maharashtra, Bar and Bench reported.
While Gadling and Dhawale were arrested in 2018, Teltumbde has been imprisoned since 2020.
According to news reports, the jail authorities recently moved an application to transfer the male accused in the case to other prisons. The accused have alleged that they were not even heard or informed about the decision taken by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) court. In fact, the families allege the reason behind the transfer is to divide them by sending them to separate prisons.
The petition stated that “an extremely prejudicial order was passed by the special court under the National Investigation Agency Act, permitting their transfer without offering any hearing to them”.
However, the application stated that the former superintendent of Taloja Central Prison had in March 2021 sought permission to transfer six out of the 13 under-trials out of the prison for the purpose of decongestion. The application also stated “presence of certain ‘sensitive’ under-trial prisoners in Taloja jail” as a reason for the transfer.
Following several allegations, the former superintendent was transferred out of Taloja prison. But on the basis of his request, special judge D.E. Kothalikar allowed the under-trials to be transferred.
In their petition, the families said that the former superintendent had moved another application on June 7, alleging that the “accused in the Elgar Parishad case, their relatives and their lawyers are taking advantage of COVID-19, are making false complaints through the media and are putting pressure on Taloja jail authorities to achieve their intentions”.
Of the 13 males accused in the Elgar Parishad case and detained at Taloja jail, Varavara Rao is presently on medical bail while Hany Babu has been admitted to a private hospital for treatment. Father Stan Swamy passed away last month.