The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to allow writer and activist Anand Teltumbde, one of the 16 persons accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, to travel to Europe to deliver a series of lectures and seminars at universities, Live Law reported.

A division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale expressed disinclination to allow the travel, noting the National Investigation Agency’s objection over concerns that Teltumbde might abscond.

At the outset of the hearing, Gadkari said: “Either give virtual lectures or don’t go,” Live Law reported.

Teltumdbe’s counsel, Mihir Desai, however, told the court that his client would not just deliver lectures but also conduct seminars.

The judge, however, noted that an NIA court had rejected Teltumbde’s application to be discharged from the case, and that there was an apprehension that he may abscond, Live Law reported.

In view of the court’s observations, Desai sought permission to withdraw the petition, which the court allowed.

According to his petition, Teltumbde had been invited to University of Amsterdam as a visiting scholar in April based on his “internationally renowned scholarship and expertise in the area of social justice”. His itinerary at the university included a lecture on BR Ambedkar on April 14.

Teltumbde was also invited to speak at Leiden University in the Netherlands on April 16.

In the United Kingdom, he was invited as a scholar-in-residence at Nottingham Trent University in May, and had invitations to deliver lectures at Oxford University, Edinburgh University and University College London, among others.

The National Investigation Agency, however, told the court that these activities did not require his physical presence and could be conducted online, according to Live Law.

The Bhima Koregaon case

The case is related to the violence that broke out in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune on January 1, 2018, a day after the Elgar Parishad conclave was organised to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.

One person died in the violence and several others were injured.

Teltumbde, a Dalit rights activist, professor and author of nearly 30 books, was named as an accused in August 2018 after a search of his residence at the Goa Institute of Management. The case was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency in January 2020.

Five years on, the trial in the case is yet to begin. One person accused in the case, Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, died in prison in 2021. In addition to Teltumbde, seven others have been released on bail.

When the Supreme Court last year granted bail to two people accused in the case, it noted that the primary evidence cited by the National Investigation Agency – a batch of letters – was of “weak probative value or quality”. In addition, a digital forensics firm, Arsenal Consulting, concluded that false evidence had been planted on the laptops and devices of the accused.

Teltumbde surrendered in April 2020 after failing to quash the first information report or secure anticipatory bail.

He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in November 2022.

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