The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to a petition filed by activist and Elgar Parishad case accused Gautam Navlakha seeking permission to reside in Delhi and attend court proceedings through video conferencing.
Appearing for the NIA, advocate Chintan Shah waived notice, following which a bench of Justices AS Gadkari and RR Bhonsale directed the agency to file its reply. The matter will be heard on November 7.
Navlakha’s plea challenges a June 19, 2025, trial court order that denied him this relief. The 73-year-old, a permanent resident of Delhi, was arrested from the capital on August 28, 2018.
In his plea, Navlakha said he is unemployed, suffers from serious health issues, and is struggling to sustain himself in Mumbai, where he is forced to rent a house at a prohibitive cost. He has been relying on friends for financial support, which he says is no longer sustainable.
The very high cost of living in Mumbai is depleting his life savings, the plea said, adding that his current rental accommodation is temporary and uncertain, causing him constant stress and anxiety.
Navlakha further argued that staying in Delhi would give him access to his doctors and the support of family and friends. He also noted that the prosecution has not alleged that he would influence witnesses if allowed to live in Delhi.
He pointed out that the trial is moving at a “snail’s pace” with 370 witnesses and a chargesheet running into 20,000 pages across 54 volumes. Given the circumstances, he undertook to appear physically in Mumbai if directed, stressing that he has not violated any bail conditions and that his passport remains with the NIA.
The Elgar Parishad case refers to the investigation and subsequent arrests of several activists and academics, alleging that a 2017 cultural event called the Elgar Parishad led to violence at the nearby Bhima Koregaon commemoration and that the organisers had links to a banned Maoist group.
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