Father Stan Swamy, Arrested in Elgar Parishad Case, Dies

Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, died on Monday, his counsel informed the Bombay High Court.

As the court took up his bail plea hearing on Monday, Stan Swamy's lawyer told the bench that the medical condition of the 84-year-old deteriorated late Sunday night. He went into cardiac arrest at 4.30 am and couldn't be revived, the lawyer said. 

The tribal rights activist was admitted to the private hospital on May 29 from the Taloja prison following the HC's order on a petition filed by him, seeking medical attention as he was then suffering from COVID-19 and Parkinson's disease.

Stan Swamy had been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last year. He was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and terror-related offenses under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly furthering the cause of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) through civil rights organisations he was a part of.

Even last month the NIA had opposed Fr Swamy's bail plea stating “conclusive proof" of his medical ailments does not exist and claiming he is a Maoist who tried to create unrest in the country. 

The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. 

In the case, Stan Swamy and his co-accused were charged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as being members of frontal organisations working on behalf of the banned CPI (Maoists).