Teltumbde was arrested in the wee hours of Saturday from Mumbai airport when he flew in from Kerala.
A special court castigated the Pune police on Saturday, calling its arrest of Dalit scholar Dr Anand Teltumbde illegal and a violation of the apex court's order. "As per the Supreme Court's order, Teltumbde has protection from arrest till February 11 to approach the competent authority. Therefore arresting him before that is illegal and contempt of Apex Court's order," the court said.
Teltumbde was arrested in the wee hours of Saturday from Mumbai airport when he flew in from Kerala. The Pune police swooped in after his plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by Special Judge Kishor Vadane on Friday.
He is wanted in connection with the Elgaar Parishad, an event organised in Pune in December 2017. The police have been investigating Naxal involvement in the event, after which violent clashes had erupted across the city.
However, his defence counsel challenged the arrest in the special court in Pune. "The Supreme Court has given him protection from arrest for four weeks, till which date he can approach the competent authority for legal remedies," said Rohan Nahar, who represented Teltumbe in court.
However special public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar argued to the contrary: "The Supreme Court order states that the accused has four weeks to approach the competent authority for legal remedy. Since he approached the court here, his protection was extinguished and therefore, his arrest is legal."
However, special judge Kishor Vadane called the arrest illegal, saying, "Here, the competent authority includes the High Court as well as the Supreme Court, and therefore his arrest stands illegal."
"Rule of law is the soul of the democracy," said a relieved Teltumbde, "and when it collapses, a big problem arises. In my innocence, I thought there is a rule of law in the country and we can question authorities. However, in the present condition, whoever holds the authority has no accountability. We are reduced to such a regime."
He added that a conspiracy will now be exposed at the international level. "With the kind of letters the prosecution is producing in the court, whoever's name is mentioned in these letters, their lives will be jeopardised," he said.
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar, who is related to Teltumbde, said the leader has a critical view of Elgaar Parishad. "He has written against it but the police arrested him for association with it, which is self-contradictory," he added.
Judicial clash
The Supreme Court granted Dalit scholar Dr Anand Teltumbde protection from arrest till February 11 to approach a competent authority.
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 "Anand Teltumbde")
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