MUMBAI: Three accused, including academician Anand Teltumbde, moved the special NIA court on Thursday seeking discharge in the Elgar Parishad case.
Teltumbde's plea seeking discharge from several offences under the UAPA said that the NIA had not produced any material to show that he is a member of the CPI (Maoist). The plea said that Teltumbde had written about 30 books that are freely available in the market and a witness has stated that he has read one of the books written by him called 'Anti-Imperialism and Annihilation of Caste'.
"This in the face of it is a critique of Maoist ideology and this evidence indicates that the accused is critical of Maoist ideology and in view of this the allegation of the prosecution that the accused is a member of CPI (Maoist) and has been acting to further the agenda of CPI (Maoist) is wholly untrue," Teltumbde's plea said.
Responding to the allegations that he was the general secretary of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR), the plea said that there is no material to show that the organisation is a frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist). The plea said that the mail cited by the NIA only shows that the CPDR has taken up matters relating to human rights violations.
His plea also denied the claims that he was the convenor of the Elgar Parishad event. It said that witnesses, including his driver, show that his wife and he reached Shaniwar Wada at 10am and left at 1.30pm and never participated in the event. Teltumbde denied that international conferences were used to exchange Maoist literature. The plea said that merely because he had undertaken foreign tours and had delivered speeches at various conferences would by itself not amount to undertaking unlawful activity.
