Jail officials refusal to hand over Wodehouse book to Navlakha 'comical', says Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday was amused after it was informed that the Taloja prison authorities in Maharashtra refused to hand over a book written by noted English author and humourist P G Wodehouse to human rights activist Gautam Navlakha arrested in the Elgar ParishadMaoist links case citing security riskA division bench of Justices S B Shukre and G A Sanap termed the refusal on ground of security threat as comicalThe court was hearing a petition filed by Navlakha seeking that he be shifted from custody in the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai to judicial custody in the form of house arrest owing to his advanced age and the host of ailments that he suffers fromOn Monday Navlakhas advocate Yug Chaudhry lamented the poor condition in the Taloja prison where Navlakha is lodged and said even basic requirements are not being provided with to his clientHe Navlakha was refused a chair to sit on despite suffering from excruciating pain In the past his spectacles were stolen and the jail refused to accept the fresh pair of spectacles sent to him by his familyBooks are being refused A book by P G Wodehouse that is considered a humour book was sent by his family and the jail authorities refused to hand it to him saying it was a security risk twice Chaudhry saidThe HC then sought to know if the jails order refusing Wodehouses book was available Chaudhry pointed out to the court the orderThe bench then asked NIAs advocate Sandesh Patil if this was trueIs this true Wodehouse is considered as a security threat This is really comical Wodehouse was a source of inspiration for Marathi writer and humourist P L Deshpande Justice Shukre saidThis shows the attitude of the jail authorities It is the job of the NIA as prosecuting agency to ensure that the arrested persons life is made comfortable in jail At least basic needs should be met Justice Shukre saidJustice Sanap noted that the jail authorities might be strictly following the jail manualThe court also expressed anger over absence of Maharashtra government lawyers for the hearingThe petition makes specific allegations against the jail authorities and the poor condition of jail These conditions show complete neglect and justifies his Navlakha demand for house arrest but still the state government is not bothered the court saidThe bench noted that the affidavit filed by the state government has not dealt with the specific allegations made by Navlakha regarding the poor condition of the quarantine ward in the Taloja jailThe reply affidavit of the state government prima facie gives us an impression that whatever is alleged by the petitioner might be true This is further bolstered by the absence of a government lawyer in court when the petitioners advocate is arguing the court saidThe bench said it would pass strictures or ask the Advocate General to consider taking action against the erring law officerAdditional public prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde then appeared in the court and apologized for not being present earlier and urged the bench to not pass any orderThe bench said it would refrain if Shinde would submit a written apology The court then posted the matter for further hearing on Tuesday April 5Chaudhry while concluding his arguments told the court that Navlakha was 70 years old and no one would benefit if he is kept in jailThe charges are yet to be framed in the case Even if the trial begins it would take years for it to conclude Why should he Navlakha be kept in jail until then with no basic facilities Chaudhry askedHe further told the court that a coaccused in the case Father Stan Swamy died while in jail custodyAnother accused in the case Varavara Rao fortunately got medical bail from the HC or else he too would have met the same fate as Swamy Navlakha does not want to suffer the same fate as Swamy He wants to live till he clears his name from this case Chaudhry saidNavlakha was arrested in the case by the Pune police from Delhi on August 28 2018 The activist was initially kept under house arrest and subsequently sent to judicial custodyThe case was later handed over to the NIAThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever