MUMBAI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has allowed former Delhi University professor and civil rights activist Hany Babu to travel to his house in Kerala to meet his 80-year-old mother. The court however said that he would have to return before the first Monday of March to mark his attendance at the Mumbai NIA office.
Babu was arrested on April 14, 2020, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case, as the NIA alleged that he had links with banned Maoist groups and that he was connected to the violence that broke out near Bhima Koregaon in January 2018.
Babu was in judicial custody for over five years as an undertrial before being granted bail by the Bombay High Court on December 4 last year. One of the conditions imposed by the court was that he must report to the NIA office in Mumbai “on every first Monday of every month between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m.” and mark his attendance until the conclusion of the trial.
In his latest application, Babu asked the court permission to travel to Kerala for two months to meet his mother citing her frail health. He added that he also had to undergo medical treatment for gallstones. The NIA opposed the plea, contending that his alleged offences were serious, medical facilities were available in Mumbai, and no medical certificate had been produced regarding his mother’s health. The NIA claimed that there was a likelihood he “may continue with unlawful conspiracy” if granted such liberty.
Special judge Chakor S Baviskar noted that Babu had been behind bars for over five years and seven months and that his mother had lived in Kerala at the time. Judge Baviskar observed that “on humanitarian ground, he deserves concession to go and meet his old mother”. The court held that “to go and meet his mother is just consideration that too, after nearly six long years”.
At the same time, the court noted that it would still be mandatory for him to mark his attendance and that condition could not be relaxed. Saying there was “no room for concession in that condition”, the court rejected Babu’s plea to mark his attendance at the Thrissur Town West Police Station as a substitute. The court held that he could not modify the “condition imposed by the High Court which requires his attendance with NIA office at Mumbai”.
Partly allowing his application, the court permitted Babu to visit his home in Thrissur “till next first Monday (March 2), before 11.00 a.m.” and directed that he must appear at the NIA office in Mumbai between 11 am and 1 pm on that day “without fail”, warning that any breach would be reported to the High Court.