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Supreme Court extends Varavara Rao’s bail
The Bombay high court last year granted bail to Rao, 83, on medical grounds and he was to surrender on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended Telugu poet and activist P Varavara Rao’s interim protection till further orders as the hearing of his plea for permanent medical bail was adjourned at a request of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing a case related to the 2018 violence at Bhima Koregaon near Pune against him and others.
The Bombay high court had granted bail to 83-year-old Rao on medical grounds last year. On April 13, the court refused to extend the bail and asked him to surrender in three months — which ended on Tuesday. The order had prompted him to move to the top court last month.
On Monday, a bench of justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and Sudhanshu Dhulia had posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday.
When the matter was taken up on Tuesday, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NIA, sought an adjournment and did not object to the extension of the protection.
Senior advocate Anand Grover, who appeared for Rao, did not object to NIA’s request.
The bench posted the matter for hearing next on July 19 and said, “The protection enjoyed by the petitioner shall inure to his benefit till further orders.”
Mehta objected to the words “till further orders” and requested the protection be specifically granted till July 19 as the same could be potentially misused. The bench said, “If some situation occurs on the next date and the matter is not taken up, we do not want the man to be picked up.”
Rao was arrested on August 28, 2018 from his Hyderabad residence and is an undertrial in the case for which an FIR was lodged by Pune police on January 8, 2018 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In his appeal to the top court, Rao said he has spent two years in jail since he was taken into custody in November 2018. He added that he underwent cataract surgery during the bail period and suffered several age-related complications while in custody. Rao said advancing age and deteriorating health are a fatal combination and sought permission to shift him to his home town of Hyderabad.
Rao also cited the pace of the trial and added it would not end within a decade. He referred to the death of Father Stan Swamy, who was also arrested in connection with the same case, in custody before the trial could start.
