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After war, peace: Judge says he knew Tolstoy book was classic
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8/29/2019 6:03:00 PM
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Mumbai, Aug 29 (PTI) The confusion, it seems, was over
Roy and Tolstoy.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it knew that
Leo Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' was a literary classic and that
it didn't mean to suggest that all the books seized by police
in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case were incriminating.
The clarification by Justice Sarang Kotwal came a day
after he asked accused Vernon Gonsalves to explain why he kept
"objectionable material" like a copy of "War and Peace" at his
home.
The counsel for a co-accused told the court that the
'War and Peace' that the court had referred to on Wednesday
was a collection of essays edited by Biswajit Roy, titled War
and Peace in Junglemahal: People, State and Maoists.
That book (according to its publishers), is a
"collection of essays by well-known activists and academics
including mediators and examines the failed peace initiatives
in context of the governments' elitist developmental policies,
doublespeak of parliamentary parties and Maoists' follies."
The judge's purported remarks had stirred up thousands
of reactions on Twitter. The hashtag #WarAndPeace was trending
on the social media platform during the day.
The court's comments on Thursday came after the
counsel for Gonsalves informed it that none of the books
seized from the activist's residence last year were banned by
the government in accordance with CrPC provisions.
Justice Kotwal said, "I knew that Tolstoy's War and
Peace was a literary classic.I was reading the whole list
from the panchnama attached to the chargesheet. It was written
in such poor handwriting. I know War and Peace. And thereI
was making a query (on why Gonsalves had copies of these
books) but did not want to suggest that everything was
incriminating."
The counsel for co-accused Sudha Bahrdwaj, Yug
Chaudhary, said that on Wednesday, the court was referring to
the book by Roy (and not the one by Tolstoy).
The judge then said, "There were so many references to
war and other titles. Before I went to 'War and Peace', I made
a reference to Rajya Daman (another book) too. Can a judge not
ask any questions in court?"
Gonsalves told the court that he owned 2,000 books and
none of these books, including the ones seized from his home
by the Pune police, were banned.
Gonsalves' counsel Mihir Desai informed the court that
police were in possession of these allegedly incriminating
books for a year now but had done nothing about it.
"These books that the police call incriminating are
not banned under section 95 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In
fact, they are all available on (online retailer) Amazon. It
is possible that the government did not know about these books
until they seized them from me (Gonsalves)," Desai said.
"So, having these books will not show that I am in
anyway associated with any banned organisation," he said.
The court said Desai had "made his point" on the
seizure of these books and CDs by arguing that they were not
banned material.
The arguments are likely to continue on Friday.
On Wednesday, the court had asked Gonsalves, "War and
Peace is about war in another country. Why were you keeping
these books at your house."
The judge had also referred to a CD titled "Rajya
Dhaman Virodhi" and said the title "clearly suggested" it is
material against the state. "Why were you keeping this in your
house," he had asked Gonsalves.
Tolstoy's classic novel about Russia during Napoleonic
wars became a point of contention during Wednesday's hearing
after the Pune Police probing the case claimed that the book
was part of the "highly incriminating evidence" it had seized
from Gonsalves' house in Mumbai during raids conducted last
year.
Police had 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', 'Understanding Maoists' and 'RCP Review', and
copies of a circular issued by the National Study Circle.
"The title of the CD 'Rajya Daman Virodhi' itself
suggests it has something against the State while 'War and
Peace' is about a war in another country. Why did you
(Gonsalves) keep objectionable material such as books like
'War and Peace', books and CDs at home? You will have to
explain this to the court," Justice Kotwal had said.
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 Koregaon Bhima village in Pune district
the next day during an event to commemorate the 200th
anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima.
Dalits celebrate the anniversary of the Koregaon Bhima
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.
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