By: Express News ServiceMumbai | October 1, 2025 04:57 PM IST 3 min readThe police alleged that Teltumbde and other accused were active members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). (Express File)Academic and Dalit rights activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused out on bail in the 2018 Elgaar Parishad case, Wednesday withdrew his plea seeking permission to travel abroad for academic purposes after the Bombay High Court indicated it was not inclined to grant relief.A bench of Justices Ajey S Gadkari and Ranjitsinha R Bhonsale observed that Teltumbde could deliver lectures in virtual mode instead of travelling abroad. The judges also noted that a special court had already dismissed his discharge application.Teltumbde, through his application filed earlier this year, sought permission to travel abroad to deliver lectures and attend seminars at various universities in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK) in April and May 2025.What is Anand Teltumbde accused of?The Elgaar Parishad case involves a gathering that took place in Pune on December 31, 2017. Authorities claimed that alleged inflammatory speeches made during this event incited violence at the Bhima Koregaon war memorial the next day. The police alleged that Teltumbde and other accused were active members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).The NIA arrested Teltumbde in April 2020. A Bombay High Court bench of Justices Ajey S Gadkari and Milind N Jadhav in November 2022 granted him bail and subsequently the Supreme Court upheld the order. As he was asked not to leave the jurisdiction of a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai and was directed to deposit his passport, he approached the high court to modify his travel restrictions.NIA raises apprehension of Teltumbde seeking shelter abroadOpposing the plea, advocate Chintan Shah for the NIA argued that the special court had already dismissed Teltumbde’s discharge plea, and that he could “very well address lectures through video conferencing”. The NIA also expressed apprehension that he might abscond and seek shelter abroad to avoid trial in the case.In an affidavit filed in April this year, the NIA stated that “some of the wanted charge-sheeted accused of NIA and other Central law enforcement agencies have absconded and sought asylum in foreign countries”. It als oargued that a similar risk could not be ruled out with Teltumbde, whom it described as “an active and senior member of the CPI (Maoist), a banned organisation”.Story continues below this adSenior advocate Mihir Desai, representing Teltumbde, argued that his client was not merely planning to deliver lectures, but would also be active in seminars at various universities; therefore, his request to travel abroad should be taken into consideration. He also submitted that appeal against dismissal of Teltumbde’s discharge plea was pending before the high court.“You (Teltumbde) may consider that you can give a lecture through VC. Don’t go. Now the attending circumstance is that the application for discharge is rejected,” Justice Gadkari orally remarked, referring to apprehension expressed on affidavit by the NIA while seeking dismissal of the application.After the bench expressed that it was not inclined to grant permission, Desai, acting on his client’s instructions, said he would not pursue the application at this stage and requested permission to withdraw the plea. Subsequently, the bench disposed of the plea as withdrawn.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd