Bhima-Koregaon Case: Anand Teltumbde Moves Bombay High Court For Permission To Travel Abroad On Academic Assignments

Dr Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking permission to travel abroad from Mumbai to Amsterdam as well as the United Kingdom to attend academic assignments. 

Notably, Teltumbde has been made an accused in an FIR registered by the NIA for offences punishable under the IPC and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. In November 2022, the High Court had granted bail to the professor on merits imposing certain conditions including that he will not leave the court's jurisdiction without permission.

Teltumbde in his plea has stated that he has been invited by the University of Amsterdam, Nottingham Trent University among others. The plea states that he intends to travel to Amsterdam on April 1 and then to UK on May 1 and will return to Mumbai on May 21. He has thus approached the high court seeking permission to travel. 

The plea states that the faculty of humanities University of Amsterdam has selected the Teltumbde as a visiting scholar based on his "internationally renowned scholarship and expertise in the area of social justice". It is a four-week programme involving giving seminars, delivering a lecture on Ambedkar on April 14, conducting master classes with Ph.D. candidates, post-graduate teachings and meetings with individual scholars and faculty.

Further he has also been invited by the Leiden Institute for Asia Studies, Leiden University in the Netherlands to deliver a lecture at their Institute  on April 16. The plea states that he has been invited by Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom as Scholar-in-Residence for the first two weeks in May 2025 to take part in their academic programme and to meet with researchers and doctoral candidates to advise- them on their research projects. 

Thereafter he has been invited by Oxford South Asia Society University of Oxford,  University School of Social and Political Science University of Edinburgh and the University College, London for delivering lectures. 

The plea states that the petitioner has approached the concerned court to travel within the country and has been granted permission in the past. It states that he has he has diligently complied with all conditions of the bail order and has maintained regular attendance at the Police Station as well as Sessions Court during all his hearings.

The plea seeks directions for release of Teltumbde's passport at the earliest to help facilitate the visa application process, and to further permit him to travel from Mumbai to Amsterdam then to United Kingdom and back to Mumbai on the given dates. 

Case title: Dr Anand Teltumbde v/s NIA and Another