Bhima Koregaon case: Bombay HC rejects Gautam Navlakha’s default bail plea
Navlakha had sought default bail from the special NIA court claiming the charge sheet was not filed against him within the stipulated time of 90 days since his arrest
The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday rejected the default bail plea of Bhima-Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha and observed that there was nothing perverse in the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court order dated July 12, 2020 by which default bail was refused to him.
Navlakha had sought default bail from the special NIA court claiming the charge sheet was not filed against him within the stipulated time of 90 days since his arrest. The special court had, however, refused to accept the submission based on the fact that the Delhi HC had deemed the 34 days of house arrest as illegal and hence, the same could not be counted while computing stipulated 90 days.
Navlakha then approached HC claiming that though his house arrest was termed illegal, he was still in custody and hence his application for default bail should be allowed.
The division bench of justice SS Shinde and justice MS Karnik, while hearing the appeal, was informed by senior counsel Kapil Sibal that the house arrest in 2018 had curtailed Navlakha’s freedom to move freely, and therefore, his plea for default bail under section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was valid.
“Nature of custody was changed, but it was an arrest nonetheless,” Sibal had submitted.
While justifying the computation, he had argued that if the 34 days of house arrest were counted, the NIA’s charge sheet has been filed beyond 90 days and therefore Navlakha was entitled to default bail. According to Sibal, Navlakha had cumulatively spent 93 days in custody by the time the charge sheet was filed.
Additional solicitor general SV Raju, appearing for NIA, had opposed the plea saying the period of house arrest cannot be counted and the date of production of accused before the magistrate was relevant for computing 90 days and not the date of arrest.
Raju had submitted that as the Delhi HC had deemed the period of Navlakha’s detention from August 29 to October 1, 2018 as illegal, it could not be considered while computing the period of the arrest.
The bench had concluded the hearing on December 16, 2020 and reserved its ruling which was pronounced on Monday.
The bench observed, “We have gone through the order passed by the special judge, NIA. We see no reason to interfere with the well-reasoned order of the learned special judge. The appeal (filed by Navlakha) stands dismissed.”
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