Teltumbde’s pre-arrest relief is extended till February 27

Pune police has charged Teltumbde and others for various offences, including having links with banned Maoist organisations

The Bombay High Court on Friday extended the interim protection of Dalit activist and academic Anand Teltumbde, form arrest, till February 27.

This comes after the HC adjourned the matter for hearing at the request of Teltumbde.

A single-judge bench of Justice Nitin Sambre adjourned the hearing and extended Teltumbde’s protection from arrest, at the request of his counsel Mihir Desai.

Teltumbde has been named with 21 other human rights’ activists for the alleged roles in the Bhima-Koregaon violence. They all have also been accused of plotting to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Pune Police, which is investigating the case, has invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against all the accused, especially because they allegedly have links with the banned Maoist organisation.

Earlier this month, Justice Sambre had granted pre-arrest relief to Teltumbde with a further direction to appear before the investigating officer in the case on February 14 and 18 and also to cooperate with the investigation till his plea for anticipatory bail is finally decided. May it be noted, Teltumbde was arrested on February 3 after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a Pune sessions court, however, he was released within a few hours after his arrest was deemed ‘illegal’ by a sessions court. He was released after noting that the Supreme Court had granted him time till February 11 to exhaust all his legal remedies for seeking protection. Following all this, Teltumbde petitioned Justice Sambre’s bench for pre-arrest relief.