On Monday, the Supreme Court has set aside the 27th May order of the Delhi High Court which had directed the National Investigation Agency to produce the records pertaining to the production warrant issued for the transfer of Gautam Navlakha from Delhi to Mumbai.
The bench comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee while allowing the NIA’s appeal against the HC order, stated that the Delhi HC had no jurisdiction in entertaining Navlakha’s bail plea.
Earlier, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani of the Delhi High Court passed an order after making a prima facie observation that the NIA had acted in ‘unseemly haste’ to move Navlakha out of the jurisdiction of the Delhi Court while it was considering his bail application. Subsequently, on 2nd June, the apex court had stayed the HC order.
“At the time of Navlakha’s surrender, India was under lockdown. Special Judge at Bombay was pleased to pass the Order for transfer of Navlakha at the behest of our arguments. We did not hide anything from the Court. Custody is required with NIA Mumbai as there has been a discovery of new evidence,” stated SG Mehta. He submitted that the transfer had been brought to the notice of the High Court and that the Delhi HC ceased to possess jurisdiction over the matter after that. The SG added that Navlakha had been produced before the Special Judge in Mumbai, after which the remand order had been passed.
Navlakha is currently lodged at Taloja jail at Mumbai. The NIA’s plea was that the Delhi high court lacked jurisdiction in the matter in mid-June.
(This news has been written and submitted by Mr. Yogesh Sharma during his course of internship at B&B Associates LLP. Mr. Yogesh is a third-year law student at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali.)
