Swamy has right to have his name cleared: Jesuits approach Bombay HC

Mumbai: Late tribal-rights activist Father Stan Swamy's counsel and kin have urged the Bombay High Court to clear the odium attached to his name and reputation due to his arrest in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence case.

"Article 21 (Right to dignity) of the Constitution equally applies to deceased persons and just as the Appellant(Father Swamy) would have had a right to clear his name if he were alive, similarly those closest to him would have a similar right to clear his name," Senior counsel Advocate Mihir Desai said on behalf of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, which is seeking to pursue Stan Swamy's case as his next of kin.

Father Swamy passed away due to cardiac arrest in a private hospital ahead of his bail hearing on July 5. He was the 16th civil liberties activist to be arrested under anti-terror offences of the UA(P) Act on October 8, 2020. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused him of being a banned CPI(Maoist) member and conspiring to overpower the Government.

Advocate Desai assisted by Advocate Mihir Joshi has submitted a note to the Bombay High Court in his pending bail appeals. He states the Special NIA Court's observations while refusing bail amount to preliminary findings of guilt, which the High Court can set aside.

"The substantive bail has been rejected on the basis that the 'accusations against the accused are prima facie true.' Thus, there is a stigma which attaches to the Appellant (Swamy) and will continue to be so attached unless these findings are set aside," the note reads.

Apart from clearing Father Swamy's name, Desai has filed the note seeking certain directions regarding the mandatory judicial inquiry under section 176 (1-A) of the CrPC into his death.

One of the directions is to allow St Xaviers College's ex-principal, Father Frazer Mascarenhas, to participate in the inquiry.

The note states that he is delegated to be Swamy's next of kin by the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province. However, the NIA has argued the appeals won't survive due to the bar under section 394 of the CrPC.