NIA court grants 2-day parole to Akhil Gogoi to visit mother, son
Guwahati, Jun 25: An NIA court on Friday granted two-day parole to Independent Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi on humanitarian grounds to visit his mother and son.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Judge Pranjal Das, after hearing a petition filed by Gogoi's lawyers requesting permission for him to visit his family members in Guwahati and Jorhat, and people of Sivasagar, granted him parole for 48 hours which he can take as per his convenience.
The court, however, allowed Gogoi to visit only his ailing mother in Jorhat and his son, who has recently recovered from COVID-19, in Guwahati but forbade him from meeting the people of his constituency due to the prevailing pandemic situation.
The Raijor Dal chief can choose his parole days, and as he is still jailed, he will be escorted by security forces.
The NIA court cleared Gogoi and two of his associates of charges in one of the two cases lodged against him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 for his alleged role in violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Assam in December 2019.
He was cleared of the charges in the original case filed at the Chabua police station, which was later transferred to the NIA.
The NIA was investigating two cases, which were initially registered at Chandmari and Chabua police stations, related to the alleged role of Gogoi and his three colleagues in the violent protests.
The court is now hearing the Chandmari police station case which was also transferred to the investigating agency.
It is expected to give its order by next week.
The NIA court had rejected Gogoi's bail application in the Chandmari police station case in August last year, following which he had filed a petition challenging it in the Gauhati High Court.
The high court had also rejected his bail application and its order was challenged by Gogoi's lawyers in the Supreme Court where the judges decided not to "consider the petition at this stage".
Gogoi was arrested on December 12, 2019 from Jorhat, during the height of the anti-CAA protests in the state as a "preventive measure" in view of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and his three associates were taken into custody the next day.
They were later handed over to the NIA and booked under the UAPA for their alleged role in the violent protest and their possible links with Maoist elements.
Gogoi became the first jailed leader in Assam to win an assembly election this year and he is currently admitted at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
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We received request; will decide soon whether to support TVK: Thirumavalavan
Chennai (PTI): VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Thursday said that his party received a request from TVK for support and the high-level committee of his party will decide whether to support the Vijay-led party to form the government.
The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly and emerged as the single largest party. Vijay will have to resign from one of the two constituencies he has won.
Though the Congress party, which has five MLAs, has extended support to TVK, the actor-politician-led party was still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark in the 234-member House.
"We received the request letter from TVK. We are thankful for that. We have not ignored his (Vijay's) request. We have a procedure. Therefore, our party's high-level committee will decide soon. We are going to discuss the merits and demerits of our position," the VCK leader told reporters here.
With regard to the delay in the governor's call to the TVK, which is the single largest party, to form the government, Thirumavalavan requested the governor to invite Vijay to form the government. "It is a constitutional right and people's verdict," he added.
Asserting that the governor cannot say that Vijay should hold 118 MLAs' support now itself to form the government, he said that after taking over power, Vijay has to prove an absolute majority only on the floor of the Assembly.
