SC allows house arrest request of Gautam Navlakha jailed in Maoist link case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the request of Gautam Navlakha, jailed in Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, for house arrest, saying prima facie there is no reason to reject his medical report.
Considering his health condition and old age, a bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy ordered the concerned authorities to implement the house arrest order within 48 hours. It, however, said that 70-year-old Navlakha would not have internet facilities, electronic gadgets and mobile phone. He can use a mobile phone provided by police to talk only for 10 minutes a day and that too in their presence, said the SC. Only his sister and daughter can visit him once a week for three hours, the court further ordered.
The SC added only TV (without internet) newspaper and books are allowed, besides ordering the authorities to install CCTV cameras at the entry and exit gates and outside the rooms of his flat.
The bench also directed Navlakha to deposit Rs 2.4 lakh, an estimated amount which the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claims as expense for making available police personnel.
Navlakha at present is in judicial custody in Taloja jail of Maharashtra.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had asked the NIA to inform it about the kind of restrictions it wanted for Navlakha if he is placed under house arrest.
The top court asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the NIA, to seek instructions and inform it.
"He is a 70-year-old man. We don't know how long he will live. Certainly, he is going towards the inevitable. It's not that we are going to release him on bail. He is not going to enjoy the default bail which comrade Sudha (Bharadwaj) got... We are conscious that we have to tread carefully. We agree that house arrest as an alternative has to be used carefully...," the bench said.
(with agency inputs)