Snehal Upadhyay-
Published on: August 23, 2021, at 13:26 IST
The NIA (National Investigation Agency) has submitted its draft charges before a special court in Mumbai pertaining to the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
NIA has claimed that the accused intended to establish their own government and “wage a war against the nation”.
The draft lays down 17 charges against the 15 accused in the case. The Charges includes various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The charges basically framed under the Indian Penal code were under Sections 120-B (conspiracy), Section 115 (abetment of offence), Section 121, Section 121-A (waging war against the state), Section 124-A (sedition), Section 153-A (arms in procession), Section 505(1)(B) (statements promoting mischief) and Section 34 (common intention).
Further, the Charges framed under UAPA were under Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 18A, 18B, 20 (punishment for terrorist activities), 38, 39 and 40 (punishment for being part of a terrorist organisation).
The NIA has also stated that the accused were active members of the banned terror outfit CPI (Maoist).
Several activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Hany Babu, Anand Teltumbde, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha are taken under custody.
As per the draft, the sole purpose of the accused was to establish a “Janta Sarkar (people’s government) through revolution and armed struggle to seize power from the state”.
The Draft further claims that the accused have been actively playing provocative songs, enacting short plays and skits in the Elgar Parishad meeting which was held in Pune. They were also distributing Maoist works of literature.
The Draft reads “That the criminal conspiracy was an intention to bring about secession of a part of the territory of India and incite individuals to bring about such a secession.”
It also alleges that the accused in order to bring terror in the minds of the people used explosive substances.
“That accused recruited students from various universities including the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Tata Institute of Social Science for the commission of terrorist activity,” the draft claimed.