The Bombay High Court on Thursday, 3 December, noted that poet-activist Varavara Rao will remain admitted in Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai till 14 December, and his health has had a slight improvement after being transferred from Taloja Jail, in Navi Mumbai to the private hospital.
"There is some slight improvement. He shall remain admitted there till December 14," said a division bench of the Bombay High court, comprising Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik, reported PTI.
The 81-year-old was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the December 2017 Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. He has been in jail since 2018 for allegedly inciting caste violence, which he has strongly denied and no charges have been formally brought against him.
Rao has been admitted in Nanavati Hospital since 18 November, and the High Court’s orders have come after studying the private hospital’s medical report on Rao. Rao had suffered from neurological ailments and needed post-COVID-19 care reported PTI.
On 14 December, the court will hear Rao's petition seeking bail on medical grounds, along with a petition filed by his wife, Hemalata seeking his shift to Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital from jail for medical treatment. The High Court asked the petitioners' lawyers, as well as those of the NIA, to go through the Nanavati Hospital's medical report, PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)