Court rules against Pune police's Elgaar arrest

Anand Teltumbde outside the Pune court on Saturday. Pic/Mandar Tannu

Hours after the Pune Police arrested Anand Teltumbde, Dalit scholar and brother of wanted Maoist Milind Teltumbde, in the Elgaar Parishad case, a local court on Saturday ordered his release, citing violation of a Supreme Court order.

Anand, 68, who is a management professor in Goa, had been detained at the Mumbai airport in the early hours of Saturday after he arrived from Kochi, and was brought to Pune. The arrest came after the Supreme Court granted him interim relief till February 11.

The police had claimed that Anand had allegedly received money from his brother to target a group of students to spread the Maoist ideology. They further alleged that Anand used the money to fund an academic tour to Paris.

The court witnessed high drama when Anand was produced before special judge Kishor Wadane around 3 pm on Saturday. His brother-in-law, politician and lawyer Prakash Ambedkar, was also present in court - Ambedkar's sister is married to Anand.

Defence lawyers Rohan Nahar and Rahul Deshmukh argued that Anand's arrest was illegal. "As the Supreme Court order dated January 14, has given him interim relief, he cannot be arrested. The investigating officers have willfully disobeyed," the defence argued.

The government district pleader Ujjwala Pawar argued that while the apex court had granted Anand interim relief to approach the sessions court for a bail hearing, his bail plea was rejected by a lower court on Friday. "We only arrested him after the bail plea was rejected," he said.

After listening to both arguments, judge Wadane said that the police action amounted to contempt of court. Wadane ordered that Anand be released immediately. Speaking to mid-day, Anand said, "The police have falsely accused me in this case. I was heading to Bombay High court and they arrested me before that. The visit to Paris, which is being questioned by the Pune Police, was sponsored by a university. It has no connection or funding from the Maoists."

Meritorious career
Anand Teltumbde holds a BE in mechanical engineering from VNIT, Nagpur, an MBA from IIM-A and a doctorate in management. He also has a DLitt (Honoris causa) from the Karnataka State University and was professor of management at IIT-Kharagpur, where he served till 2016. He has authored 26 books. Teltumbde has also received various prestigious awards such as Vikas Ratna Award and Ambedkar Centenary Award (UK). He was also the president of the last Vichar Vedh Sammelan, a prestigious forum for progressive intellectuals in 2007.

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