SC to hear petition challenging “arbitrary arrests” of human rights activists
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New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against “arbitrary arrests” of human rights defenders including Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha citing “Maoist links”.
Five eminent citizens led by Professor Romila Thapar today moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The matter was mentioned by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the petitioners, before a constitution bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Nariman and Indu Malhotra which had assembled to hear the reservations in promotions matter.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked Singhvi to mention it before the regular bench at 3:45 PM as such mentionings are not permitted before a constitution bench.
The petition rotested against the “arbitrary” arrests, citding that the arrests were made without a shred of evidence and alleged that an emergency-like situation existed in the country
Pune police on Tuesday raided residences of prominent human rights activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links.
The raids were carried out as a part of an investigation into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after ‘Elgar Parishad’ event on December 31, 2017.
Searches were carried out at the home of activist and poet Varavara Rap in Hyderabad, civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha, who lives in Delhi, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, human rights lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh, a senior police official said.