Delhi HC frees Activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest, says detention ‘untenable’
New Delhi, Oct 1: The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered the release of human rights activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest, saying his detention was "untenable" under law.
A bench of justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel also set aside a lower court order allowing the Maharashtra Police to take Navlakha to Pune.
The high court bench, however, said that the Maharashtra Police is free to begin fresh proceedings in the matter against Navlakha, as per legal provisions.
Navlakha was among the five rights activists arrested by the Maharashtra Police in a series of raids across the country on August 28 for their alleged links with a banned Maoist group.
Navlakha was arrested from his residence in south Delhi's Nehru Enclave and presented before a magistrate's court here, which allowed the police to present him before a court in Pune.
Subsequently, the high court directed the Maharashtra Police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi and keep him under house arrest until further orders.
The Supreme Court had on September 29 rejected a plea for immediate release of the five rights activists, held in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case for alleged Maoist links.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
