NEW DELHI: Warning against muzzling dissent in a democracy, the
Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Maharashtra police to keep
arrested human right activists and lawyers Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam
Navlakha, P Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves confined
to their “own houses” till September 6and not to take them to jail.
An unusual mentioning before a Constitution bench headed by CJI Dipak
Misra at 10.35 am on Wednesday by senior advocate A M Singhvi for urgent hearing of a petition filed by Left-leaning
intellectuals and others — Romila Thapar, Devaki Jain, Prabhat Pattnaik, Satish Deshpande and Maya Daruwala — made the CJI
set up a bench comprising himself and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud that took up the petition for hearing at
4.15 pm.
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Activists from various organisations stage a protest pertaining to the arrest of five activists in connection with the BhimaKoregaon
protests, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)
After hearing Singhvi and senior advocates Rajeev Dhavan, Dushyant Dave, Indira Jaising, Raju Ramachandran, C U Singh,
Huzefa Ahmedi and Prashant Bhushan for the petitioners, the bench curtly told Maharashtra police, represented by Nishant
Katneswarkar as well as additional solicitors general Tushar Mehta and Maninder Singh, “Dissent is the safety valve of
democracy. If dissent is not allowed, then the pressure cooker will burst.” The bench, however, clarified that it had not taken a
final view yet on the merits of the arguments of the two sides.
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Police detain activists during a protest against the arrest of Varavara Rao and other activists in connection with BhimaKoregaon
violence, in Hyderabad. (PTI Photo)
Interim order an interim order, all contentions are open, says apex court
The Supreme Court said, “Needless to say, an interim order is an interim order and all contentions are kept open.” Asking the
Union government, Delhi police special cell and Maharashtra police to file response to the petition, the SC said since Bhardwaj
and Navlakha had already been ordered by high courts to be kept under house arrest, the others — Rao, Ferreira and
Gonsalves — “if arrested, will be kept under house arrest in their own homes. House arrest of Navlakha and Bhardwaj will be
extended till September 6”, when the petition will be heard again.
The petitioners had sought “immediate release from custody of all activists arrested in connection with Koregaon Bhima
violence and stay of any further arrests until the matter is fully investigated and decided by the Supreme Court”.
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The police had arrested the activists for their alleged role in the Elgar Parishad on December 31, which also marked the 200th
anniversary of the Koregaon Bhima battle in which Dalit soldiers under the British had defeated the Peshwas. Violence marred
the celebrations and police registered an FIR on January 4.
Singhvi opened the arguments for the petitioners and said the nationwide swoop on those who voiced dissent against the
government was meant to deliver a chilling message to those who opposed the regime. ASGs Mehta and Singh said it was a
strange petition, where none of the petitioners faced arrest yet they were before the court seeking bail for others. “Is this
permissible in criminal law?” they asked. When Maharashtra counsel Katneswarkar tried to explain the sequence of events
8/30/2018 Keep arrested activists confined to homes, not jail, for now: SC to cops – Times of India
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leading to the arrests, the bench shouted at him for making what it called irrelevant arguments.
Singhvi said the petitioners were raising the larger question of right to life and the government’s attempt to trample it.
“The entire exercise is to silence dissent, stop people from helping downtrodden and marginalised people across the nation
and to instil fear in the minds of people. The petitioners are seriously concerned about erosion of democratic values and are
moving the SC not to stop investigation into allegations but to ensure independent and credible investigation by such persons
as may be deemed fit under SC supervision,” Singhvi said.
Dhavan said he contributed financially to an NGO run by one of the arrested persons. “This means I too should be arrested,” he
said. Dave said it was a shame that right to dissent was getting muzzled by the government using brute police force. Jaising
said lawyers who helped poor people in litigation had been picked up by the Maharashtra police.
Singhvi said it was ludicrous on part of the Maharashtra police to slap “fabricated charges” under the draconian Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against academicians, poets and lawyers for merely attending a conference at Koregaon
Bhima in December last year and accuse them after nine months of helping a banned Maoists organisations. “This conference
was attended by retired judges and other eminent persons too,” he said.
“This petition seeks to bring on record the gross abuse of police power in the country, intended to stifle if not kill independent
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voices of persons who differ with the ideology of the party in power. The action of Pune police is the biggest attack on freedom
and liberty of citizens by resorting to highhanded powers without credible material and evidence,” the petitioners said.
Keep arrested activists confined to homes, not jail, for now : SC to cops
