Mumbai: In a dramatic turn of events, it has now emerged that the book the Bombay High Court referred to during the hearing of the Bhima-Koregaon case on Wednesday was not Leo Tolstoy's classic "War and Peace" but the similar-sounding "War and Peace in Junglemahal", edited by Biswajit Roy.
Lawyer Yug Chaudhary, appearing for one of the accused, on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that sections of the media had wrongly reported on the court raising objections to accused Vernon Gonsalves for keeping a copy of "War and Peace".
"The book recovered from Gonsalves is 'War and Peace in Junglemahal: People, State and Maoists', edited by Biswajit Roy, not the 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy," Chaudhary told the court.
According to online shopping site Amazon, “this collection of essays by well-known activists and academics including the mediators, examines the failed peace initiatives in the context of the governments' elitist 'developmental' policies, doublespeak of the parliamentary parties and Maoists' follies.”
In response, Justice S Kotwal, to whom the statements were attributed by some sections of the media, responded that he was "shocked" by the reportage and it was disturbing for the institution.
The judge said that he was well aware that Tolstoy's "War and Peace" (1869) was a literary classic and he never intended to suggest that all books seized by the Pune Police during the Bhima-Koregaon and Elgar Parishad investigations were incriminating.
Gonsalves' lawyer informed the court that none of the books seized from his client's home were banned by the government.
The Bombay High Court Wednesday asked Gonsalves to explain why he kept "objectionable material" like a copy of the book and some CDs at his home.
The single-judge bench hearing the bail plea of Gonsalves and others also said that "such books" and CDs prima facie indicated they contained some material against the State.
Pune Police also read out the titles of several other books and CDs allegedly recovered from Gonsalves' house which included CDs titled 'Rajya Daman Virodhi' released by Kabir Kala Manch, 'Marxist Archives' and 'Jai Bhima Comrade'; books 'War and Peace in Junglemahal', 'Understanding Maoists' and 'RCP Review', and copies of a circular issued by the National Study Circle.
Gonsalves was arrested by the Pune police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after raids at residences and offices of several activists in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.
The police had claimed provocative speeches made at the Parishad on December 31, 2017 were responsible for the caste violence around Bhima-Koregaon village in Pune district the next day during an event to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. One person was killed and others were injured in the violence.
Police are probing alleged Naxal links in organising the Parishad, which was held at historic Shaniwarwada in Pune.
Other arrested accused in the case include activists and academics Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, and Gautam Navlakha.
Gonsalves' counsel Mihir Desai told the high court that Pune Police had based the entire case against him on the basis of some emails and letters recovered from the computers of other people.
"None of these letters or emails were written by Gonsalves or were addressed to him. Therefore, in the absence of any cogent incriminating evidence against him, Gonsalves shouldn't be denied bail," Desai argued.
Opposing the bail application, advocate Aruna Pai, who is representing Pune Police, said while police did not find any electronic evidence against Gonsalves from the computer and hard disk recovered from his house, the raid had yielded "highly incriminating evidence" in the form of "books and CDs with objectionable titles mentioned above".
Desai countered the prosecution argument saying "mere possession" of such books and CDs "did not make Gonsalves a terrorist, or a member of any banned Maoist group".
Agreeing with the defence that mere possession of such material does not make anyone a terrorist, Justice Kotwal, however, said Gonsalves will have to explain why he kept such material at his home.
The judge also said Pune Police too have to do "much explaining" to convince the court that the material found on such CDs and in the books is incriminatory against Gonsalves.
"So far, the police have failed to provide details of what was on the CDs or in the books and pamphlets recovered that linked Gonsalves to the case. Merely stating that they have objectionable titles is not enough. Have you tested these CDs? What if they turn out to be blank inside?" the judge asked.
"If you (prosecution) do not place on record the content and details of such material, the court will have to ignore them," said Justice Kotwal.
The bench also directed police to provide details of the source of the emails and letters, and their authors and recipients.
Dalits celebrate the anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle every year as they believe that the Army of the British comprising 'Mahars' or scheduled caste soldiers had defeated the forces of the Brahmin Peshwas.
