Court allows Bharadwaj to access books from outside jail

Mumbai, Jan 13 (PTI)A special NIA court has allowedactivist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case, to access books from outside Bycullaprison, where she is lodged, according to an order madeavailable on Wednesday.

Special NIA court judge DE Kothalikar allowed a pleaof Bharadwaj in this regard on Tuesday.

The judge directed the jail superintendent to allowBharadwaj have access to five books a month from outside theprison in central Mumbai.

Last month Bharadwaj, and co-accused Gautam Navlakhaand Delhi University professor Hany Babu had filed separatepleas through their lawyer Chandni Chawla seeking access tobooks and newspapers from outside prison.

Navlakha and Babu are lodged in Taloja jail in NaviMumbai.

Thepleas ofBabu and Navlakha will be taken up innext hearing.

''The superintendent shall carefully examine the booksand if, they contain objectionable material, which preachesviolence, vulgar, obscene, pornographic or the materialpropagating the banned organisation namely RevolutionaryDemocratic Front or CPI (Maoist), in that case he shall notallow the applicant to accept such books,'' the court said.

In a related development, academician-activist AnandTeltumbde, also an accused, in his fresh bail plea filedbefore the court on Tuesday, has said the prosecution theorythat he was abetting others to wage war against the governmentis all ''humbug''.

Teltumbde, along with several other activists, hasbeen booked under provisions of the stringent UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly having linkswith the Maoists and conspiring to overthrow the government.

He has sought bail on the merits of the case.

Teltumbde,in his bail plea, has given a detailedrebuttal to all the charges levelled against him.

''Even after the NIA has taken over nothing could befound and thus theory of prosecution that accused are wagingwar or attempting to wage war or accused is abetting others towage war or incite the public is all humbug,'' Teltumbde saidin the bail plea.

The plea said the applicanthails from a poor familyand due to his sheer brilliance and hard work has reached theposition he has in Indian society.

However, casteist forces cannot digest this fact andimplicating him in the case is an attempt to belittle hisachievements, Teltumbde added.

The court will hear his plea and other applicationsrelated to the case on January 27.

The court had in July refused to grant ''default'' bailto Teltumbde (70), who is in jail for nearly nine months now.

He had sought bail under section 167 (2) of the Codeof Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on July 13 after the NIA failedto file a charge-sheet against him within 90 days as mandatedunder the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Teltumbde and other activists were initially booked bythe Pune police after violence erupted near Koregaon-Bhima, onoutskirts of Pune city, a day after an Elgar Parishad conclavewas organised.

Inflammatory speeches and provocative statements madeat the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017,triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima the next day, thepolice had alleged.

According to the police, the event was ''backed'' byMaoists.

The NIA later took over the probe into the case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)