Varavara Rao granted bail in Koregaon-Bhima case

The Bombay High Court has granted him bail on medical grounds for six months

Nearly two and a half years after he was arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case, an eminent poet and writer Pendyala Varavara Rao was granted bail for six months on medical grounds by the Bombay High Court on Monday.

The 82-year-old veteran activist and Left-wing ideologue is currently undergoing medical treatment at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, where he has been admitted by the Maharashtra government following court orders.

Varavara Rao is the first accused in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case to get bail. Rao has been asked by the court to remain in Mumbai and be available for investigation whenever needed. He will also have to submit his passport before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court and submit a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount.

Rao was arrested on August 28, 2018, by the Pune Police. The case has not been taken over by the NIA.

A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice S S Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale granted bail to Varavara Rao on an application by his wife P Hemlatha.

When the Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh sought a three-week stay on the order, the bench rejected the plea given Varavara Rao’s advanced age and his medical conditions.

Rao’s lawyers Anand Grover and Indira Jaisingh argued that his medical conditions could turn critical if he was again sent back to Taloja Central Jail and would be violative of his fundamental right to health. “We feel that with the condition of the under trial, it would be inappropriate to send him back (to jail)... We are of the opinion that this is a genuine and fit case to grant relief or else we will be abdicating our constitutional duties as protector of human rights and right to health covered under right to life of Article 21 of the Constitution," the bench observed while granting bail to the octogenarian activist.

“We are obviously very happy... it is an emotional moment," said P Pavana.

It may be recalled in July 2020, he had tested positive for Covid-19 and subsequently recovered. He is also facing several old age-related ailments. It may be mentioned that over the last year, Varavara Rao's family members - wife P Hemalatha, and daughters P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana - had been issuing statements from Hyderabad, seeking medical attention for him.