NIA claims in SC Navlakha owes 1.64 cr towards house arrest security, activist terms it 'extortion'
New Delhi, Mar 7: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Gautam Navlakha is required to make a payment of Rs 1.64 crore towards expenses for making available police personnel for his security during house arrest even as the activist's lawyer disputed the figure and accused the agency of "extortion".
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the NIA, told a bench of justices M M Sundresh and SVN Bhatti that 70-year-old Navlakha, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has only paid an amount of Rs 10 lakh till now as part of expenses incurred for round-the-clock security.
"He must pay some amount," Raju said.
Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha, contested the figure of Rs 1.64 crore saying the agency's calculation of the amount payable was wrong and contrary to the relevant rules.
She said, "We have contested this amount by NIA and the matter needs to be heard. They cannot demand one crore from citizens for keeping them in custody."
The law officer retorted, "Citizens are not entitled to house arrest."
Ramakrishnan then said, "Even by their own rules, this is not amount. And therefore there cannot be extortion. A poor man can never get out."
Raju strongly objected to the use of the term "extortion".
The top court said the matter needs to be heard in detail and posted the case for April.
The stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on the operation of its order granting bail to Navlakha will continue until then.
The Bombay High Court had on December 19 last year granted bail to Navlakha but stayed its order for three weeks after the NIA sought time to file an appeal in the top court.
The apex court had earlier said keeping Navlakha under house arrest further will set a "wrong precedent".
Navlakha is under house arrest at a public library in Mumbai since November 2022.
While ordering his house arrest on November 10, 2022, the apex court had directed Navlakha to deposit Rs 2.4 lakh towards the expenses to be borne by the state for deploying police personnel to effectively place him under house arrest.
Later, it had again directed Navlakha to deposit another Rs 8 lakh as expenses for providing police personnel for his security.
On November 10, 2022, the top court had allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja prison in connection with the case, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
As many as 16 activists have been arrested in the case and five of them are currently out on bail.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
