New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated that it may place activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, under house arrest, asking the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to inform it about the kind of restrictions that should be enforced.The top court asked additional solicitor general (ASG) S.V. Raju, appearing for the NIA, to seek instructions and inform it.A bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy said it will pass the order Thursday after hearing the ASG.“He is a 70-year-old man. We don’t know how long he will live. Certainly, he is going towards the inevitable. It’s not that we are going to release him on bail. He is not going to enjoy the default bail which comrade Sudha (Bharadwaj) got… We are conscious that we have to tread carefully. We agree that house arrest as an alternative has to be used carefully…”“We are concerned about what restriction would you like to place. Place whatever restrictions. It’s not that he is going to destroy the country… At least let him remain in house arrest for a few days. Let’s try to work it out,” the bench said.At the outset, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Navlakha, said the medical reports show that there’s no possibility of him being treated in jail. “There’s no way in the world you can get this kind of treatment/monitoring done in jail. He’s had alarming weight loss. This kind of treatment is not possible in jail,” Sibal said.ASG Raju, appearing for the NIA, submitted that Navlakha’s health condition is not so bad that he be placed under house arrest.He said Navlakha’s excess sodium level can be brought under control by “drinking ample water”. “We will provide mattress and cot everything. We will allow him to bring home food also,” he said.Sibal asked why is the NIA keen to keep Navlakha in jail when his health reports say otherwise.The ASG replied it is difficult to monitor people under house arrest.When he said that “nothing will happen to him” and Navlakha be tested in jail, Sibal retorted that “nothing happened to Stan Swamy as well” and he passed away.Swamy was also an accused in the Elgar Parishad case and died after contracting COVID-19. He was awaiting interim bail on medical grounds.Raju told the top court that people such as Navlakha “want to destroy the country”.“Their ideology is of that type. It is not that they are innocent people. They are persons involved in actual warfare,” the ASG said.The bench then remarked, “Do you want to know who is destroying this country? People who are corrupt. Every office you go into, what happens? Who takes action against the corrupt? We should be accused of being biased.”“We saw a video of people where people talk of crores of rupees to buy our so-called elected representatives. Unless we close our eyes. Are you saying they are not doing anything against our country? The point is that you don’t defend them but they go on. They go on merrily. There are money bags which can help you get away,” the bench observed.The additional solicitor general said he was not defending the corrupt and added that action should be taken against them.The top court asked Raju to seek instructions and apprise it of what conditions can be imposed on Navlakha if the request for house arrest is allowed.“At least for a short period let us see. You check and come back so that nothing happens contrary to the interest of our country. We are equally conscious of that. If he does anything, he will lose his freedom,” the bench said.“He has got a host of problems and it is not unnatural for somebody who is 70. At this age, you are bound to go into a state of disrepair,” it said.The ASG claimed that Navlakha has filed numerous applications to delay the trial.“It is a well-thought-off strategy. He has supported the guerilla movement which has resulted in the loss of life to our jawans. They are involved in anti-national movements. He is in touch with Kashmiri extremists,” he said.Raju also claimed that Navlakha is connected to the Maoist party and that he meets the “ISI general for recruitment”.Sibal, however, refuted the submissions and said there is no evidence to support the allegations.The top court on September 29 had directed the Taloja jail superintendent to immediately shift Navlakha to Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital for treatment. It had said receiving medical treatment is a fundamental right of a prisoner.The activist appealed to the apex court against the April 26 order of the Bombay High Court dismissing his plea for house arrest over apprehensions of lack of adequate medical and other basic facilities in Taloja jail near Mumbai where he is lodged.The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.The Pune police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with Maoist links. The NIA later took over the probe.The apex court had earlier granted bail to 82-year-old activist P Varavara Rao in the case. Another activist, Sudha Bharadwaj, was granted default bail. Twelve other people – artists, lawyers and academics – have also been arrested in the case.(With PTI inputs)