Elgar Parishad Case: NIA Court Grants Anand Teltumbde To Travel To Bengaluru For State Award Ceremony

The special NIA court has allowed Dr Anand Teltumbde, who is out on bail in the Elgar Parishad case, to travel to Bengaluru for accepting a state award. Recently, he has been selected for Basava Rashtriya Puraskar, which will be bestowed in a ceremony today (Wednesday).

The honour is presented in the name of Jagjyoti Basaveshwar, recognising individuals and organisations for their “unique achievements” in the field of literature, social justice and harmony. Dr Teltumbde will be feted with the 2022-23 award for his works mirroring the preachings of Basavanna and other Shivasharanas.

After getting an invitation for the ceremony, he approached the court on Monday and sought permission to travel out of Mumbai. As per his bail conditions, he can't step out of the city. Giving a nod, the court asked him to report back on February 2.

Dr Teltumbde, who was arrested for alleged connection with Maoist leaders, was released on bail in November 2022. An engineering graduate and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, who used to teach at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and the Goa Institute of Management, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in April 2020.

According to the prosecution, he delivered a “provocative presentation” on December 31, 2017, during an event at Shaniwarwada in Pune, which led to the violence at Bhima-Koregaon in January 2018.