HC Rejects Varavara Rao’s Permanent Bail Plea, Medical Bail Extended By 3 Months

Rao's interim bail has been extended by three months so that the octogenarian can undergo cataract surgery.

Varavara Rao is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, 13 April, dismissed pleas filed by Elgar Parishad case accused Varavara Rao, who had sought permanent medical bail and permission to shift to his residence in Hyderabad, Telangana, citing ill health and high expenses in Mumbai.

The court, however, extended the interim bail granted to Rao by three months so that the octogenarian can undergo cataract surgery.

"Petition seeking bail is temporarily dismissed. Temporary bail extended for 3 months. Permission to stay in Hyderabad disallowed. Temporary period of bail is extended mere for cataract operation."

Bombay High Court, as quoted by LiveLaw

The division bench comprising Justices Sunil Shukre and GA Sanap further noted that certain facts regarding Taloja jail, where Rao had been imprisoned, have been brought to the court's attention during the case. The bench said that directions will be issued in this regard as well.

Rao had been granted medical bail for six months on 22 February 2021. He was to surrender on 5 September, but had filed a plea seeking an extension of the bail and later filed another application seeking permanent bail on the ground of ill-health.

Since then, the high court has extended the time given to him for surrendering before the Taloja prison authorities in Navi Mumbai several times on various grounds. The last high court order had allowed the extension of his medical bail till 28 February.

The Telugu poet is accused in a case relating to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune in December 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city’s outskirts.

The Pune police had claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. The probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians have been accused, was later transferred to the NIA.