Sushree Mohanty
In a 34-page request dismissing the bail plea of the 83-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai has explained that basing on the material put on record by, it was concluded that Swamy was involved with Maoist, and carried out activities aimed at ousting the democracy in the country.
The order passed by Special Judge Dinesh E Kothalikar explaining the reasons behind dismissal of the plea was made public.
Justice Dinesh E Kothalikar said in his request that Swamy, along with individuals from Maoist groups “hatched a scheme and conspired to stage agitation in the whole country and to overthrow the public authority, strategically and by utilizing muscle power.”
The record further unveils that around 140 messages were exchanged between the co-accused and petitioner which in turn establishes that he was in contact with co-accused all throughout and there existed a link between them. The court likewise eluded to implicating letters seized in Stan Swamy’s home pursuit and said that it, on a prima facie, indicates that there was a “profoundly established conspiracy of genuine repercussions”.
The court, while rejecting the bail application, relied on a hard disk which was seized from him. The hard disc contained 40 files and 140 messages traded between Swamy and were subsequently discovered in the computer of the accused. Advocate Sharif Shaikh, appearing on behalf of Swamy, had contended that proper procedures to secure the electronic records were not followed by the examination official, thus opening the chances to fabricate them.
He additionally argued that letters contain numerous lawful inadequacies and that based on the short forms or abbreviations used in the said letter, the identity of the sender and recipient cannot be established. Concerning the inadmissibility of proof, the court relied on the precedents laid down by the Supreme Court and said that the decision will be delivered by the trial court.