2018 Elgar Parishad Case: Anand Teltumbde seeks bail; lawyer says trial unlikely to begin soon
India Today
The NIA "wrongly attributed Anand Teltumbde as a terrorist while levelling charges under the UAPA, said the lawyer while seeking bail.
While submitting an argument for bail of professor Anand Teltumbde, who has been behind bars since April 2020 in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case, lawyer Mihir Desai said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had "wrongly attributed him as a terrorist while levelling charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)".
Mihir Desai also told the division bench of Justices SB Shukre and GA Sanap that while the stringent bail conditions are stipulated against the person charged with provisions of the UAPA, the Supreme Court has said that if trial in such cases is going to take a long time, then the person should not be kept behind bars pending trial.
Desai stressed that the Elgar Parishad case is one such case where the trial is unlikely to begin soon. The trial is at the stage of framing charges before which it has to deal with various applications filed. Many crucial pieces of evidence, like cloned copies of hard disks found by the accused, have not yet been handed over to the defence.
Desai referred to another Apex Court judgement and said that being an ordinary member of a terrorist organisation is not a crime as one has to be an active member of the same. "I contend that Teltumbde is not even an ordinary member of a terrorist organisation," said Desai.
The court asked Desai to give a compilation of excerpts from the charge sheet that contained specific allegations against him and said that the same will determine whether the prima facie material was against Teltumbde. The bench will continue hearing Teltumbde's submissions on Thursday.
Teltumbde had surrendered before the NIA following a Supreme Court directive and is currently lodged in the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai. His bail plea was earlier rejected by the lower court.
READ | Elgar Parishad case: Anand Teltumbde did not meet his mother as permitted by Bombay HC
