Elgar Parishad case: Court asks Mumbai hospital to submit health report of Varavara Rao

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Saturday asked Sir JJ Hospital to submit a report on 81-year-old Telugu activist and poet P Varavara Rao’s health by June 2, when the court is scheduled to hear his interim bail plea. Rao was arrested in 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.

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On Thursday evening, Rao was rushed to Sir JJ Hospital from Taloja jail after he fell unconscious. His family, however, was informed about his hospitalisation on Friday evening, and hence could approach the special court only on Saturday. In the plea filed through lawyers Nilesh Ukey and Arif Siddiqui, the accused’s family sought direction to the hospital to give Rao’s detailed medical report.

Rao earlier moved a plea for an interim bail, following which the court asked Taloja prison authorities to provide the accused’s medical report. However, on Thursday when the case came up for hearing, the prison authorities failed to submit the report, after which the court sent them a reminder to submit the report and scheduled the hearing on June 2.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Rao’s wife P Hemalatha released a statement, in which she urged the Centre and the Maharashtra and Telangana governments to provide exact details of her husband’s health condition. She also urged the three governments to release her ailing husband on bail immediately owing to his health condition. “Through the local Chikkadapalli police in Hyderabad, we came to know around 8.30pm on Friday that Varavara Rao’s health condition was precarious and he was moved to Sir JJ Hospital, Mumbai from Taloja jail. They [Telangana Police] told us that they got that one sentence information from Pune Police and did not know any further details,” read her statement.

Hemalatha pleaded to the authorities to conduct a proper medical check-up of her husband and permit video conferencing with him to know his actual health condition. “I am not in a position to travel to Mumbai as I am 72 and not in good health and have been under severe stress for the past 12-14 hours in particular and 18 months in general,” her statement read.