On Monday, the 91st day after his arrest, civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde filed a plea seeking statutory bail before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court as the NIA failed to file a chargesheet within the stipulated 90 days time after his arrest.
Special judge under the NIA Act DE Kothalikar had on Sunday, the 90th day after his arrest, passed an order further extending his custody for 90 days, along with that of Gautam Navlakha. While doing so, the court had also rejected a default bail plea which was filed earlier by Navlakha in the event that the agency does not file the chargesheet.
The plea filed on Teltumbde’s behalf by his advocate R. Sathyanarayan on Monday said that he wishes to challenge the order which extended his custody by another three months and that he be granted default bail as the NIA has not filed the chargesheet. It said the court may impose terms and conditions and release him on deposit of cash security.
The NIA had sought an extension of custody of both Teltumbde and Navlakha by 90 days citing the lockdown and pandemic. The plea had said that due to the situation it was unable to confront witnesses or collect documents and hence needed further time to file the chargesheet and an extended period of detention of the duo too for three months.
Teltumbde, a family member of Dr. BR Ambedkar and an accused in the Elgar Parishad - Bhima Koregaon case had surrendered on April 14 before the NIA Mumbai office as per the directions of the Supreme Court, after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the top court.
