Elgaar Parishad case: Accused charged with sedition, waging war against government

  • | Monday | 19th November, 2018

(Express)THE prosecution on Sunday said that sections pertaining to sedition and waging war against the Government of India have been invoked against the accused in the case of alleged Maoist links to Elgaar Parishad. The five were placed under house arrest for five weeks on the directions of the Supreme Court on September 28. Rao’s house arrest duration was extended by three weeks. “While the very authenticity of the communications is questionable, the mails have no relevance to what the Elgaar Parishad case is,” Nahar said. When he (Rao) was in house arrest, there were limitations on his movement.

Varavara Rao. (Express) Varavara Rao. (Express) THE prosecution on Sunday said that sections pertaining to sedition and waging war against the Government of India have been invoked against the accused in the case of alleged Maoist links to Elgaar Parishad. The sections have already been incorporated in the chargesheet filed by the police on Thursday, against the 10 accused. The public prosecutor in the case, district government pleader Ujwala Pawar gave out the details when Telugu poet and rights activist P Varavara Rao, who was arrested by the Pune City Police on Saturday, was produced in a special court. Rao (78) has been remanded in police custody till November 26. While arguing for Rao’s custody, Pawar said in the court of the additional sessions judge, Kishor D Vadane: “This is a very serious case that involves charges of sedition and waging war against the Government of India. The sections pertaining to these charges, have been invoked recently. The present accused (Rao) has been involved in procurement of arms and ammunition, funding Maoist activities and recruiting students to be trained as cadre of the banned CPI Maoist organisation.” A police officer said the Indian Penal Code sections 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121) and 124A (sedition) have been invoked in the case. “While we have already invoked these sections and they have been added in the recently filed chargesheet, the actual prosecution under these sections requires an approval from government of Maharashtra. The approval is awaited,” the officer added. The police have so far booked 22 people in the case. Of them, five were arrested on June 5. The five — Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut — along with five alleged underground operatives of the CPI Maoist — Milind Teltumbde, Prakash alias Rituparn Goswami, Manglu, Deepu and Kishan alias Prashanti Bose — were chargesheeted on Thursday. The police had arrested Rao on August 28, along with activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Gautam Navlakha, alleging that they are part of a larger conspiracy of the banned CPI-Maoist to form a front named “Anti Fascist Front” with an idea of overthrowing the democratic government in the country. The five were placed under house arrest for five weeks on the directions of the Supreme Court on September 28. Bharadwaj, Gonsalves and Ferreira were later arrested and are now in judicial custody. Rao’s house arrest duration was extended by three weeks. Navlakha and another activist, Anand Teltumbde, moved the Bombay High Court, saying their names should be dropped from the FIR. The High Court has extended the interim relief granted to them until the next hearing on November 21. As the house arrest duration for Rao had expired and also his petition to quash the transit warrant of the Pune City Police was rejected by the High Court, a team led by investigation officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar, took him in custody from his house in Secunderabad on Saturday evening. He was brought to Pune on Sunday morning. While arguing against the police’s plea for Rao’s remand, his lawyer, Advocate Rohan Nahar, said the house arrest of Rao and the others was judicial custody. Nahar also questioned the legality of the arrest on Saturday. “The meaning of arrest is loss of liberty. When he (Rao) was in house arrest, there were limitations on his movement. Also, during this time, there was no prohibition on the police to interrogate him.” Nahar countered the grounds quoted by the police and also questioned various letters quoted by the prosecution, including alleged email communication between Rao and CPI Maoist general secretary Ganapathy. “While the very authenticity of the communications is questionable, the mails have no relevance to what the Elgaar Parishad case is,” Nahar said. Public Prosecutor Ujwala Pawar said: “The recovered communication and hard drives have to be checked. The bank accounts also need to be looked into as part of the probe. Probe needs to be done into various activities the accused has undertaken as an active member of the CPI Maoist.” After hearing both sides, the court remanded Rao in police custody till November 26. For all the latest Pune News, download Indian Express App

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