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Bhima Koregaon case: Prof Hany Babu to remain in pvt hospital till June 15

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 06:50:15 +0000

Image Courtesy:thenewsminute.com

The Bombay High Court Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Abhay Ahuja has directed Breach Candy Hospital, where Professor Hany Babu is currently admitted, to further examine him with the help of experts and advise on his care during recovery period. The report is to be submitted to the court by June 14.

“Considering the arguments of the learned counsel, we request the hospital to further examine Petitioner’s husband with the help of experts and advise on his care during the convalescence period. The further report be submitted by 14th June, 2021,” said the Bench.

On May 27, the court had requested the Hospital to seek its permission before discharging him. This relief is to continue till June 15 as the court said, “In the meanwhile, ad-interim order dated 27th May 2021 passed by this Court, to continue till the next date.”

Further, the Bench has also allowed Hany Babu’s wife (petitioner), their daughter and mother to visit him in the private facility till the next date, “subject to and as per the hospital protocol.”

Submissions

The counsel for the petitioner argued that the medical report submitted by the hospital suggests that Hany Babu still requires critical care despite the hospital stating in its report that he is clinically and hemodynamically stable, and is ready for discharge. The counsel also argued that instead of sending him to jail, he should be allowed to be taken care of under facilities of house arrest.

But Sandeep D. Patil, appearing for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), opposed this prayer vehemently, submitting that Hany Babu’s medical report clearly mentions that he is ready for discharge.

On May 19, the vacation bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade had heard Professor Babu’s petition and directed he be transferred to Breach Candy Hospital for treatment of his infected eye. In custody sans-trial since July 2020, he was also diagnosed with Covid-19 on May 13, 2021.

The matter has now been listed for hearing on June 15.

The order may be read here:

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Seek court’s permission before discharging Hany Babu: Bombay HC

Fri, 28 May 2021 04:35:51 +0000

Image Courtesy:freepressjournal.in

The Bombay High Court has directed that Prof Hany Babu not be discharged from the hospital without the court’s permission, before the next date of hearing, on June 1. The court, at the last hearing had directed that Hany Babu be transferred to Breach Candy Hospital owing to severe eye infection and testing positive for Covid.

The vacation bench of Justices SS Shinde and NR Borkar heard the matter upon mentioning as the case was listed to be heard. The counsel for the petitioner, Jenny Rowena, wife of Hany Babu, submitted that Hany Babu has still not recovered from his eye infection and is still Covid positive. In such a situation, his discharge will prove fatal.

The court thus, directed Breach Candy Hospital to submit the medical report of Hany Babu’s condition by June 1 and until then he should not be discharged. The court stated that if before June 1, he is required to be discharged, the Hospital has to seek permission of the court.

On May 19, the vacation bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade had heard the petition and directed that Hany Babu be transferred to Breach Candy Hospital, the charges for which be borne by the family. Bhima Koregaon-accused Hany Babu (55), in custody sans-trial since July 2020, was diagnosed as Covid-19 positive on May 13, 2021. The professor had already been suffering a dire eye infection in Taloja jail. His family had already appealed to the Maharashtra government to shift him to a multi-speciality hospital with required expertise and facilities, for the best possible treatment in his present condition.

It may be pertinent to mention here that when Dr. Varavara Rao’s wife had petitioned the court for his medical bail and he was shifted to the hospital, the court had passed similar orders to not discharge him without the court’s permission and sought regular reports from the hospital regarding his health condition and finally decided upon his 6 months bail taking into account his medical condition.

The order may be read here:

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Hanay Babu could lose vision in an eye due to administrative apathy!

Wed, 12 May 2021 05:42:42 +0000

Image Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Family of Bhima Koregaon-accused Hany Babu on May 11, 2021 requested immediate access to proper medical care and transparency for the undertrial prisoner to treat the acute eye infection contracted at Taloja jail in Mumbai.

Wife Jenny Rowena called for due attention to the illness, as per the rights granted and guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. She talked about how Hany, arrested in July 2020, has little or no vision in his left eye due to a swelling that spread to his cheek, ear and forehead, compromising other vital organs and posing a significant risk to his life if it spreads to the brain.

“He is in agonising pain and is unable to sleep or perform daily chores. Due to an acute water shortage in the prison, he does not have access to clean water to even bathe his eye and is forced to dress his eye with soiled towels,” she said.

The professor experienced pain and swelling in his left eye on May 3, which soon developed into double vision and severe pain. He immediately requested consultation and treatment by a specialist doctor because the prison Medical Officer had informed Hany that the prison did not have the facilities to treat his infection.

However, his brothers stated that he was not taken for consultation because of unavailability of an escort officer. The Taloja Jail Superintendent only sent him to a Government hospital in Vashi on May 7 after receiving an email from the accused’s lawyers a day prior.

At the hospital an ophthalmologist prescribed an anti-bacterial medication and advised him to return for follow-up treatment within two days. Yet, prison authorities failed to arrange for an escort officer even after two days. His condition deteriorated alarmingly, said family members.

On May 10, Hany Babu’s lawyer Payoshi Roy, called the prison over eight times to speak with the Superintendent, who refused to answer the call. Finally, at 8:30 PM, the Jailor informed Roy that he was aware of the situation and making arrangements to take him to the hospital the next day.

Roy again sent an email to the Superintendent requesting that there be no further delay. She emphasised the gravity of the situation, stating that even a day’s delay may lead to an irreversible deterioration resulting in partial or complete loss of sight and life-threatening complication of the brain. On May 11, the family reported he was yet to be taken to the hospital.

In a press statement, brothers Harish MT & MT Ansari said, “Through the last few days, we have been beside ourselves with anxiety. The thought of Hany Babu having to beg for something as basic as essential health services is heart wrenching. Even today, we were unable to get a response from the prison, despite repeated calls by Ms. Roy. We fear that an opaque system will do irreparable damage to those locked up within as well as locked down at various places.”

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NIA raids Prof Hany Babu’s house; DUTA asks govt to stop witch-hunt

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 13:12:54 +0000

Image Courtesy:deccanherald.com

In the early hours of a Sunday morning, August 2, the house of Delhi University Professor Hany Babu was raided by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The purported objective was to gather evidence of Hany Babu’s alleged links with a North East based insurgent group, Kangkeipak Communist Party-Military Council (KCP-MC). The NIA claims that it has retrieved several communications between Hany Babu and other Manipur based outfits. “KCP is a banned North East based insurgent group which indulges in extortion from government offices on the pretext of taking protection money and is involved in several violent incidents over the years,” a counter-insurgency official told the Hindustan Times.

On July 28, Hany Babu was arrested by the NIA from his residence in Noida, Gautama Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. The arrest comes after they had summoned Prof Babu to Mumbai for investigations on July 15 2020. According to the NIA spokesperson quoted in Hindustan Times, “Prof Hany Babu was propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology and was a co-conspirator with other arrested accused.” Babu has been accused in connection with the 2017 case which alleged that “provocative speeches” were made at an Elgar Parishad event organised by the Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune, Maharashtra on December 31. It was alleged that those speeches incited people, and promoted enmity between caste groups leading to violence on January 1, 2018.

During the raid, the only two people present in the house, were Hany Babu’s wife Prof Jenny Rowena and her minor daughter. Rowena teaches English at Miranda House and she termed the raid as ‘harassment’. 12 NIA personnel conducted the raid, along with some Delhi Police officials. The Frontline reported that they were there for four hours and took away hard drives, pen drives and booklets pertaining to the Defence Committee for G.N. Saibaba, of which Hany Babu was a member (G.N. Saibaba is a Delhi University professor who is 90 per cent disabled, arrested in 2014 for having Maoist links and convicted in 2017).

As reported by the Hindustan Times, the NIA statement of August 2 stated, “Hany Babu M T was found to be a co-conspirator along with other accused persons propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology. The investigation also revealed that Hany Babu was in contact with Paikhomba Meitei, Secretary Information and Publicity, Military Affairs of Kangkeipak Communist Party (MC), an organisation banned under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act…. An interview of Ganapathy, General Secretary of CPI (Maoist) was shared by Paikhomba Meitei with the accused Hany Babu. Communications of Hany Babu with other Maoists of Manipur have also been retrieved”. The agency further said, “After the release of CPI (Maoist) leader Pallath Govindankutty, Hany Babu, along with co-accused Rona Wilson, took the initiative to help him financially by raising funds.”

This act of the NIA was condemned by the Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) and the President of DUTA, Prof Rajib Ray said, “As President of the DUTA, I strongly protest and urge the government to desist from these illegal, strong-arm tactics, and immediately stop this witch-hunt against academics and scholars.”

The house of Hany Babu and Rowena was raided in September 2019 as well in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. Back then, the team that raided his house seized his laptops, mobile, all pen drives, hard drives, even locked his email accounts. They even checked books, especially two book, one was Understanding Maoists, by N Venugopal, the other was From Varna to Jati: Political Economy of Caste in Indian Social Formation by Yalavarthi Naveen Babu.

Rowena told Hindustan Times, since Hany Babu’s bail application is up for hearing in 2 days, the NIA was scrambling for “things to show in court”.

The arrest of Hany Babu had seen a wave of shock and anger amongst academic and the activist fraternity. Author Meena Kandasamy said, “The witch-hunt in the #BhimaKoregaon case continues. Now, the 12th arrest has been made, Prof MT Hany Babu, Delhi University. What does an English professor have to do with this case? Nothing, except a fascist state sending a signal that any noise will be crushed ruthlessly.”

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Prof Hany Babu is NIA’s 12th arrest in Bhima Koregaon case

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 04:07:45 +0000

Image Courtesy:en.hindy.in

On July 10, 54-year-old Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil, an associate professor at English Department, Delhi University tweeted, “Day in and day out we are reminded that there is no justice in this country. And there is no peace without justice.”

Day in and day out we are reminded that there is no justice in this country. And there is no peace without justice.

— Hany Babu MT (@hanybabu) July 10, 2020

On Tuesday July 28, he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency from his residence in Noida, Gautama Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. With this, the NIA has made its 12th arrest in the Bhima Koregaon case, and the third one during the national Covid-19 lockdown. The arrest comes after they had summoned Prof Babu to Mumbai for investigations on July 15 2020. Prof Babu will be produced before NIA Special Court in Mumbai on Wednesday.

According to the NIA spokesperson quoted in Hindustan Times, “Prof Hany Babu was propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology and was a co-conspirator with other arrested accused.” Babu has been accused in connection with the 2017 case which alleged that “provocative speeches” were made at an Elgar Parishad event organised by the Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune, Maharashtra on December 31. It was alleged that those speeches incited people, and promoted enmity between caste groups leading to violence on January 1, 2018. The Pune Police had filed a charge-sheet and a supplementary charge-sheet in this case on November 15, 2018 and February 2, 2019, stated the HT report. The NIA took charge of the case on January 24, 2020. Two other accused, academics and writers, Prof Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, were arrested on April 14 2020.

A Pune Police team searched Prof Babu’s house on September 11, 2019. In an interview to The Caravan, he recalled the day the police searched his house. “They asked me whether I knew about the case—I said I do not really know about the case but I know that some people have been arrested already. They said they have to search my house… they were looking for electronic devices. They seized my laptops, mobile, all pen drives, hard drives, locked my email accounts and also they were interested in books… the books that they had kept aside, two of them were connected to the defence committee for GN Saibaba. We have brought out a couple of booklets. One [book] had the title Understanding Maoists, by N Venugopal, the other was From Varna to Jati: Political Economy of Caste in Indian Social Formation by Yalavarthi Naveen Babu. I wondered why are they taking it, then I realised that Naveen Babu is a known name so it’s very clear that they were looking for books that would show me in a kind of profile.”

According to the news report, the NIA spokesperson said that during investigations they “found that senior leaders of CPI (Maoist), an organisation banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, were in contact with the organizers of Elgar Parishad as well as Hany Babu to spread the ideology of Maoism/Naxalism and encourage unlawful activities.” The NIA added that, “It was revealed that accused Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil was propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology and was a co-conspirator with other arrested accused.” the NIA spokesperson said.

When he was summoned to Mumbai two weeks ago, Babu had spoken to the news portal Scroll and called the NIA’s move “harassment”. “They are asking me to travel to Mumbai in the middle of a pandemic,” Babu had told Scroll then, “It is not just a health hazard to me but also to my family. I live in Noida and there are so many restrictions to even travel to Delhi.”

Prof Babu is known in academic circles as a vocal “anti-caste activist”. He had told the Caravan that the bulk of his work was on “issues relating to discrimination, social justice, reservation. But that alone, I am sure, would not have attracted this kind of attention or attack from state agencies. So, there is clearly a kind of message being sent out: that you have to be careful about what kind of activities you are engaged in.”

He told the magazine that the Police then asked him questions such as, “Do you know Surendra Gadling?” Now Surendra Gadling is a person who has been arrested and he is also the lawyer who was in charge of Saibaba’s case in Nagpur. “Obviously I know him because we were part of the defence committee. I have talked to him, called him maybe once or twice. I have also met him once or twice, in Nagpur. I said yes,” said Babu. The police then went on to ask him “Do you know Rona Wilson?” Babu told the magazine, “Rona, I also know as a friend. I said, ‘Yeah, I know him. And so?’ After that they do not say anything. Knowing them is enough. By knowing them, with your association with them, you become a suspect for us.”

Prof Babu’s arrest sent a wave of shock and anger in the academic, and activist fraternity. According to journalist, academic and activist, Prof Dilip Mandal, “There is every possibility that if the central government would exclude the employed people from the OBC reservation, then the petition filed in the Supreme Court against it would be Prof. Haini Babu. This is what it means to be a hany babu.”

इस बात की पूरी संभावना है कि अगर केंद्र सरकार ओबीसी आरक्षण से नौकरीपेशा लोगों को बाहर करती, तो इसके खिलाफ सुप्रीम कोर्ट में दायर होने वाला पिटिशन प्रोफेसर हैनी बाबू ड्राफ्ट करते.

हैनी बाबू होने का ये मतलब है.

#StandwithProfHanyBabu

— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) July 28, 2020

Author Meena Kandasamy said, “The witch-hunt in the #BhimaKoregaon case continues. Now, the 12th arrest has been made, Prof MT Hany Babu, Delhi University. What does an English professor have to do with this case? Nothing, except a fascist state sending a signal that any noise will be crushed ruthlessly.”

The witch-hunt in the #BhimaKoregaon case continues. Now, the 12th arrest has been made, Prof MT Hany Babu, Delhi University. What does an English professor have to do with this case? Nothing, except a fascist state sending a signal that any noise will be crushed ruthlessly. https://t.co/gtTHssL6no

— meena kandasamy || இளவேனில் மீனா கந்தசாமி (@meenakandasamy) July 28, 2020

Prof Babu is also a member of the committee formed to defend Dr GN Saibaba, the wheelchair-bound former Delhi University professor who is now serving a life term in Nagpur jail, for his alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

This is most heartbreaking. I have not come across more humble and democratic professor than him in our campus.

— Kawalpreet Kaur (@kawalpreetdu) July 28, 2020

Anti caste activist, strong supporter of reservation for SC-ST-OBC, Delhi University professor Dr Hany Babu is arrested by NIA. We condemn his arrest. it’s an evil to suppress anti caste & pro reservation activists & movement. @AmbedkarSchool stands by him. #StandwithProfHanyBabu pic.twitter.com/6MVhgAE6YI

— Ambedkar School (@AmbedkarSchool) July 28, 2020

My close friend, anti caste activist, a prominent voice for OBC reservation, & DU Teacher Dr @hanybabu has been arrested by NIA. Being a Law graduate, he’s been a great help for research in many constitutional & reservation case I’ve did in these years. #StandwithProfHanyBabu pic.twitter.com/dwpSSJHuNH

— Nitin Meshram Equal Free Speech (@jaibhimworld) July 28, 2020

The Maharashtra police have so far arrested writers, lawyers, and civil rights activists, most of them are undertrials, lodged in jail even as Covid-19 is spreading in prisons across the country. The accusations include “conspiracy to assassinate the prime minister, and overthrow the government,” and the violence at the Elgar Parishad event.

As noted by scores of media reports, the Covid-19 lockdown has been the most active time for NIA investigators. Like Pof Babu will now be taken to Maharashtra, when normal travel between states remains an uphill talk, the NIA had earlers secured special permission from court in May, the agency to take Delhi-based writer Gautam Navlakha, to Mumbai. Navlakhas bail petition was pending in the Delhi High Court then.

The NIA Arrest List

Sudhir Dhawale

Shoma Sen

Mahesh Raut

Rona Wilson

Surendra Gadling

Varavara Rao

Sudha Bharadwaj

Arun Ferreira

Vernon Gonsalves

Anand Teltumbde

Gautam Navlakha

Hany Babu

While Prof Babu’s fate will be decided by the Special Court in Mumbai on Wednesday, ten of the accused remain behind bars till now. Varavara Rao, the oldest, is in hospital in Mumbai, as he is very unwell, suffering from Covid-19 and other serious ailments. After scores of letters, and repeated pleas to various authorities, his family has just been told that they may be allowed to see him in hospital soon.

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