The Bombay High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition filed in December 2021 by Father Frazer Mascarenhas, who sought to clear the name of late activist Father Stan Swamy from adverse observations made by the Special NIA Court in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case.

 

Appearing through Senior Advocate Mihir Desai, the petitioner argued that the NIA Court’s findings “besmirched” Swamy’s lifelong work for tribal and human rights, violating his right to reputation under Article 21. Swamy—arrested under the UAPA in October 2020—passed away in July 2021 before his bail hearing.

 

When the matter came up before the Division Bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale, the NIA, represented by ASG Anil Singh and special counsel Chintan Shah, objected to the maintainability of the petition. The NIA argued the plea had become infructuous and could not be amended to introduce new causes of action.

 

Accepting the objection, the Bench disposed of the petition, granting Mascarenhas liberty to file a fresh petition challenging the Magistrate Inquiry Report that ruled Swamy’s death to be a natural death.

 

Earlier, the State informed the Court that the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) had, on May 2, 2025, accepted the Inquiry Report, which concluded there was:

• no foul play,

• no medical negligence, and

• death occurred due to septicaemia from lobar pneumonia, aggravated by age and existing ailments including Parkinson’s.

 

The NIA, in its affidavit, maintained that although the trial abated upon Swamy’s death, the allegations remain and cannot be expunged under the guise of Article 21. It criticised the suggestion that “odium has followed him to the grave” as irresponsible, asserting Swamy was arrested with sufficient evidence of involvement in CPI (Maoist) activities.

 

Notably, this petition has been listed nearly eight times before five different Division Benches, with three benches—led by Justices Prasanna Varale, Sadhana Jadhav, and Revati Mohite-Dere—recusing from the matter.