Supreme court rejects NIA plea against shifting Gautam Navlakha to house arrest, directs to take action within 24 hours

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ordered to move Gautam Navlakha, who is in jail Koregaon-Bhima case, to house arrest within 24 hours. The Supreme Court rejected NIA's counter plea to withdraw the earlier order to transfer him to house arrest. The bench comprising of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy also clarified the conditions for the proper implementation of house arrest.

70-year-old Gautam Navlakha was kept in jail even a week after the Supreme Court ordered him to be kept under house arrest for one month due to his health condition. The NIA's argument was that Gautam Navlakha had misled the court about his health condition. Also, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the NIA, pointed out that the place where he is being kept under house arrest is owned by the communist party. “The communist party is a recognized political party in the country”, said the court. The judges replied that they were not shocked by the fact that it was a building owned by the party. Then the court also directed Gautam Navlakha to be immediately moved to house arrest.