WHEN THE National Investigation Agency (NIA) summoned Father Stan Swamy to its Mumbai workplace in October final yr, its officers stated the Jesuit priest and rights activist, then 83 years outdated, was to be interrogated additional in reference to the Elgar Parishad case.
Swamy was arrested on October 8 and flown to Mumbai the subsequent day, however the central company didn’t search his custody for interrogation. The following day, October 9, the NIA courtroom, the place Swamy was produced, despatched him to judicial custody in Taloja Central Jail, the place he remained till he was shifted to a personal hospital on May 28, the place he died on Monday.
“What was the need for his arrest as not a single day’s custody was sought?” requested Swamy’s lawyer Mihir Desai earlier than the Bombay High Court on Monday, minutes after the bench was knowledgeable of Swamy’s loss of life. Calling for an inquiry, Desai stated whereas he had no complaints towards the courtroom or the hospital, he couldn’t say the identical in regards to the NIA and jail authorities.
Swamy was first probed in reference to the Elgar Parishad case when the Pune Police searched his residence in Ranchi in 2018 and 2019. After the NIA took over the case in January 2020, he was interrogated for practically 15 hours over 5 days in July-August. The NIA summoned him once more in October final yr, this time to its Mumbai workplace.
Stan Swamy was admitted to a personal hospital since May 30 following the instructions of the Bombay High Court. (File Photo)
On October 9, the day he was produced earlier than the courtroom, the NIA filed a chargesheet towards him and 7 others, accusing them of being members of the banned organisation CPI (Maoist) and dealing to additional its actions.
The company, nonetheless, didn’t search Swamy’s custody for additional interrogation however insisted that he be stored behind bars. Within per week of his arrest, when Swamy sought interim bail on the bottom that he’s inclined to the Covid-19 an infection given his age and comorbidities, together with a coronary heart situation and Parkinson’s illness, the NIA stated the 83-year-old was taking “undue benefit” of the pandemic and that the pleading about his medical situation was “merely a ruse” to acquire interim reduction.
The courtroom rejected his plea on October 22.
Swamy then filed for bail once more in November, this time on deserves, primarily based on the chargesheet towards him. In his 31-page bail plea, it was submitted on Swamy’s behalf that no function was being served “keeping a sick 83-year-old incarcerated”. It was additionally submitted that the truth that he was not arrested for 2 years after the FIR was filed in 2018, confirmed that he was not thought-about a flight danger or somebody who would tamper with proof.
Outside Holy Family Hospital. (Express Photo: Ganesh Shirsekar)
As ‘evidence’ of his alleged affiliation with the CPI (Maoist), the NIA instructed the courtroom there have been emails exchanged between Swamy and the opposite co-accused and claimed that in 2019, he had attended a gathering in Kolkata organised to protest towards the arrest of human rights activists within the Elgar Parishad case.
Founder of Bagaicha, a Ranchi-based organisation that works for advisasis and moolvasis, Swamy stated he was targetted for protesting towards the unlawful detention of children accused of being Maoists. He stated he has by no means visited Bhima Koregaon and the paperwork claimed to have been discovered on his laptop computer have been in a format which might be “easily manipulated and planted on an insecure digital device”. Even earlier than his arrest, Swamy had questioned the authenticity of the paperwork when confronted with them, saying that they didn’t present particulars of the sender and receiver, and had no date or signature, and thus may very well be simply planted.
Father Frazer Mascarenhas outdoors Holy Family Hospital. (Express Photo: Ganesh Shirsekar)
The courtroom, whereas rejecting Swamy’s bail plea in March this yr, had stated that his grounds for in search of reduction, together with his outdated age and illness, “were outweighed by the collective interest of the community”.
While appeals filed earlier than the Bombay High Court on behalf of Swamy towards the particular courtroom’s orders have been pending listening to, the NIA opposed his bail, together with on medical grounds, till his loss of life.
In a video recorded by Swamy earlier than his arrest, he stated he was reluctant to journey from Ranchi to Mumbai on account of his outdated age, varied illnesses and the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. “Now, they (NIA) want to take me to Mumbai for further interrogation which I am refusing to go because of my age. I have certain ailments, there is a pandemic ravaging in the country and Jharkhand government has issued instructions that elderly people may not travel or appear in public. Given these, I do not want to risk myself. On the other hand, I am ready for interrogation that NIA wants but through video-conference,” he had then stated. He added that he hoped that “some human sense will prevail”. “If not, I am ready to face what is next.”