By Irudhaya Jothi

Kailashahar, Tripura, Nov 25, 2021: The Bombay High Court has permitted the Jesuits to initiate separate proceedings to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name from accusation in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case.

The Jesuit Adivasi activist died July 5 under police custody at Holy Family hospital in Mumbai, western India. The National Investigation Agency arrested him October 8, 2020 from his residence near Ranchi, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

Father Swamy was arrested the 16th civil liberties activist to be arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for alleged anti-national activities.

The NIA accused 84-year-old Jesuit of being a member of banned Maoist group that conspired to overpower the Indian government.

On November 24, the bench comprising Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal heard Jesuit Father Frazer Macarenhas’ interim application that sought to clear Father Swamy’s name from the allegations.

The plea from the former principal of Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College urged the court also urged the court to order a mandatory judicial inquiry under section 176 (1-A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure into his elderly confrere’s death, reported Live Law, a website that reports legal matters.

Father Mascarenhas and Father Joseph Xavier, another Jesuit who heads Bengaluru’s Indian Social Institute, are looking after the case on behalf of the Jesuits of South Asia with senior advocate Mihir Desai.

The court has accepted Father Mascarenhas as Father Swamy’s kin and allowed him to sign the application for separate proceedings to clear the late Jesuit’s name from the NIA accusation.

Desai, the lawyer appearing for Father Swamy, submitted a note saying, “Article 21 (Right to dignity) of the Constitution equally applies to deceased persons and just as the Appellant (Father Swamy) would have had a right to clear his name if he were alive, similarly those closest to him would have a similar right to clear his name.”

Father Xavier, a close associate of Father Stan, says the court permission “is important for us to clear the stigma attached to the name of Father Stan as he was falsely accused.”

He continued, “Even when Father Stan is no more with us, it is our right to clear his name and it is as good as he was alive.”

Many Christians already consider Father Stan as a saint.

Under the court order, Father Swamy’s body was cremated after Mass at St. Peter’s Church in Mumbai’s Bandra. It was livestreamed and watched by more than a million people around the world.

The urn containing Father Swamy’s ashes was taken around many places in India and millions – Catholics, supporters and activists, paid their reverence.

Father Swamy’s legacy has revived the spirit of prophetism in many youth and religious, especially the Jesuits in India, Father Xavier said.

The Jesuits have decided to be part of the Bhima Koregaon- Elgar Parishad case until all the 15 people languishing in the jail are released and declared innocent and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) repealed, he added.