Activist Gautam Navlakha’s plea in the Supreme Court against the quashing of his bail plea by the Bombay High Court will now be heard by a different bench after the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi recused himself from hearing the plea.

The case will now come up before a new bench within the next couple of days. Navlakha had moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court decision to reject his plea to quash the FIR against him in the Bhima Koregaon case. On September 13, the High Court had granted him protection from arrest for two weeks to approach the Supreme Court in appeal.

Earlier, the Government of Maharashtra had filed a caveat plea in the apex court against his plea. Navlakha along with Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira are accused in the Bhima Koregoan case and for alleged links with the outlawed Communist party of India (Maoist). The Bombay HC had on Sep 13 refused to quash the case lodged against Navlakha, saying there was prima facie substance in the case.

—India Legal Bureau