Activist Sudha Bharadwaj to Be Under House Arrest till 30 August

Bharadwaj was taken into custody because the CJM, Faridabd, had not received the stay order, her lawyer said.

Human Rights Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj was taken into custody this morning. 

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Lawyers for Change Fellowship)

Recalling the transit remand issued earlier by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridabad on Wednesday, 29 August, said that Sudha Bharadwaj will be kept under house arrest at her home in Badarpur border till 30 August.

The Pune Police took activist Sudha Bharadwaj into custody in Faridabad late on Tuesday, 28 August, few hours after stay order on her transit remand, Scroll.in reported.

Bharadwaj was among five arrested after the Maharashtra Police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states for their suspected Maoist links in the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

Sudha Bharadwaj’s lawyer, while addressing the media, said that she was taken into custody despite court’s order against it.

Transit bail application was dismissed. Had informed CJM that HC in Chandigarh intervened and passed interim order that Pune police won’t take her under custody and she’ll be under house arrest for three days. The matter will once again be taken up before the High Court in Chandigarh after three days. Still, the Pune police arrested her, it’s a complete violation of the order of the High Court.

Bharadwaj’s lawyer had earlier said that the activist was taken into custody because the chief judicial magistrate, Faridabad, had not received the High Court’s order, the report added. Late Tuesday night, Bharadwaj’s lawyers also said they were sitting outside the chief judicial magistrate’s house in Faridabad as they were not allowed entry by Haryana Police.

Complete Violation of Court Order, Says Lawyer

Bharadwaj was to be taken to Pune after her arrest, but the High Court said she would remain under house arrest for three days unless the local court takes a “considered view” of the police’s transit remand request Scroll.in said.

It is directed that in case the detenue is produced before the Ilaqa Magistrate/Duty Magistrate/Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridabad, the orders granting transit remand will be passed after going through the contents of the FIR and recording a finding that the provision of Sections 41 and 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been compiled with. 

High Court

“Till then, the detenue, Sudha Bharadwaj, shall be kept at the place, that is her home at Badarpur in Haryana, from where she was arrested under the supervision of Police Station Surajkund”, the high court order said.

Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan heard the habeas corpus writ petition, advocate Ankit Agarwal said.

‘Witch Hunt’

The petition, filed on behalf of Bhardwaj through advocates Arjun Sheoran and Neha Sonawane, describes the arrest as a “witch hunt for unsympathetic political views”, Bar and Bench reported.

The FIR on the basis of which the arrest had been made doesn’t even have Bharadwaj’s name, the petition states. Further, it says that she was not even present at the cultural event at Bhima Koregaon that took place on 31 December, 2017.

Based on the same set of allegations involving activist Gautam Navalakha's arrest, it was also argued that the Delhi High Court ordered for Navalakha to not be taken out of the national capital at least until Wednesday.

(Inputs from Bar and Bench, Scroll.in, PTI)