Gautam Navlakha, a journalist and human rights activist, was arrested on April 14, 2020, for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence.
Since the Supreme Court granted him bail in May in the Elgaar Parishad case, Gautam Navlakha, a journalist-activist based in Delhi, along with his partner and author Sahba Husain, has been facing a daunting challenge: renting a home in Mumbai.
Despite owning a home in Delhi, Navlakha, 72, is restricted to Mumbai due to his bail conditions. Their search for suitable accommodation in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai has proved fruitless, leaving them to resort to makeshift living arrangements in a library. This makeshift home served as Navlakha’s place of house arrest from November 2022 until earlier this year. Navlakha was arrested on April 14, 2020 for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence.
Initially arrested in August 2018, Navlakha was placed under house arrest and later sent to judicial custody in Taloja Central Prison in April 2020 following a Supreme Court order. In November 2022, the top court allowed his plea for house arrest due to his advanced age. He had since remained under house arrest in Navi Mumbai.
“As soon as we began hunting for a house to rent, we were shocked at the response we received from agents and homeowners,” Husain told The Indian Express.
Husain, also 72, said that they have explored 30 homes in Navi Mumbai’s Belapur, as well as the western suburbs of Andheri and Goregaon, but they have been turned down primarily due to her religion and his ongoing case.
On learning their names, the agents warn them that they would not be able to find any home. “One of the agents asked me if I have converted since I’m with Gautam because that might make it easier to find a house. I told them that I’m born Muslim and neither of us have converted because of our relationship,” Husain said, adding that she had never imagined living “in an India where religious divide has taken such deep roots”.
In instances where they did manage to find a willing owner, the Elgaar Parishad case against Navlakha often deterred them. In some cases, offers were withdrawn even after reaching advanced stages of negotiation, such as when deposits were about to be made.
“Gautam and I had decided not to lie about the case. We didn’t want the indignity of being told to vacate after we start living in the house. We’re not ashamed that he went to jail, we know there is nothing against him. Agents and owners say that they are looking for respectable couples like us but the moment they hear about us, they refuse the offer,” Husain said in the IE report.
According to Husain, the bail condition restricting Navlakha from leaving the city is unreasonable and infringes on their right to life. The couple’s lack of a steady income and depleting savings further complicates their situation.
“Our Constitution guarantees us the right to equality and the right to life. Bail means restoration of liberty with reasonable restrictions… We had not imagined being punished like that, at this age. The Supreme Court itself has said that the trial may take many years. For how long can we live like that? He does not have a job and my work suffers since I am not in Delhi,” Husain said.
Others granted bail in the case have faced similar challenges. Telugu poet Varavara Rao, granted medical bail in 2021, appealed to the trial court to allow him to stay in Hyderabad due to high rents and difficulties finding homes in Mumbai. Sudha Bharadwaj, a resident of Faridabad granted bail in December 2021, has been living in a friend’s home.
