Koregaon-Bhima case: Justice Bhat becomes 5th judge to recuse from hearing Gautam Navlakha's plea
New Delhi, Oct 3: Justice S Ravindra Bhat on Thursday became the fifth apex court judge to recuse himself from hearing a plea filed by civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who has challenged the Bombay High Court order refusing to quash an FIR lodged against him in the Koregaon Bhima violence case.
On September 30, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had recused himself from hearing Navlakha's plea.
Later on October 1, the three judges of a bench justices N V Ramana, R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai -- had also recused themselves from hearing the matter.
When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday before a bench comprising justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat, justice Bhat recused himself from hearing the case.
When the bench was informed by Navlakha's counsel that the three week protection given to him by the Bombay High Court was expiring on Friday, the bench said his petition would be heard by another bench tomorrow.
The Maharashtra government had earlier filed a caveat in the matter seeking to be heard before any orders are passed.
On September 13, the high court had refused to quash the FIR lodged against him in the 2017 Koregaon-Bhima case and for having alleged Maoist links, noting that there was prima facie substance in the case.
The high court had said, "Considering the magnitude of the case, we feel a thorough investigation is required".
The high court had, however, extended the protection from arrest to Navlakha for a period of three weeks to enable him to approach the Supreme Court to file an appeal against its order.
The FIR was lodged against Navlakha and others by the Pune Police in January 2018 after the Elgar Parishad held on December 31, 2017 that had allegedly triggered violence at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district the next day.
The police has also alleged that Navlakha and other accused in the case had Maoist links and were working towards overthrowing the government.
Navlakha and the other accused were booked under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code.
Besides Navlakha, four others Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha Bharadwaj, are accused in the case.
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Chhattisgarh: Couple, two grandchildren killed over 'property' dispute; two relatives held
Janjgir (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): An elderly couple and their two grandchildren were allegedly murdered by two close relatives to grab family property in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, police said on Thursday.
The couple’s one son, who had earlier spent 15 years in jail for killing his own brother, and his son have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, an official said.
The bodies were found inside their under-construction house in Bhanvtara village under the jurisdiction of the Shivrinarayan police station after labourers reached the site for work in the morning, a senior police official said.
The deceased were identified as Medani Prasad Kashyap (70), his wife Kanti Bai (65), their grandchildren Pitambar Kashyap (17) and Mogra (25).
The deceased couple’s son, Sonsai, and his son Dakeshwar have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, the official said.
According to the preliminary investigation, Medani Prasad had three sons, including Sonsai. Police said Sonsai had murdered one of his brothers in the past and had served a 15-year jail term in the case, while the couple’s third son had reportedly died by suicide.
Sonsai and his son Dakeshwar, alias Golu, allegedly killed his parents and the children of his two deceased brothers with an axe while they were asleep in the under-construction house, he said.
Pitambar was the only son of one deceased brother, while Mogra was the only daughter of another, the official said.
The accused allegedly wanted sole ownership of the family property and are suspected of having committed the crime to eliminate other claimants, police said.
A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway, the official added.
