From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao(84) from Telangana a permanent bail on medical grounds, deleting the Bombay High Court’s condition to him to surrender in three months from April.
Out on medical bail since March 6, 2021, he approached the top court after his plea for the permanent bail was rejected by the Bombay High Court on April 13, 2022. He was arrested under the non-bailable Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) since August 28, 2018 as an accused and part of the Elgar Parishad in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence near Pune.
As part of bail conditions, Rao has been asked not to leave the Greater Mumbai area without permission from the Special NIA Court of Mumbai. He cannot “in any way misuse his liberty, nor shall he get in touch with any of the witnesses or try to influence the course of investigation,” the court said.
Rao also has to keep the NIA, which is investigating the Elgar Parishad case, abreast of medical attention received by him.
A Bench of Justices Uday Umesh Lalit, Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia took into account Rao’s age, his medical conditions and the fact that he has already spent two and a half years in custody.
It observed that the charges are yet to be framed, even though a charge sheet has been filed and it agreed with his lawyer Anand Grover that the trial will take at least 10 years since there are 16 accused.
“How long should I be in jail? Till death. I should die in jail. They want me to die in jail like Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy who passed away last year because of serious medical negligence,” Grover said.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the NIA, said the accused were to be blamed for delaying the trial by filing repeated applications. Raju also argued against Rao being in risk of Parkinson’s disease and held that his health condition “was not very serious.”
Rao, who has early signs of Parkinson’s disease according to his counsel, had submitted to the apex court that “any further incarceration would ring the death knell for him as advancing age and deteriorating health are a fatal combination.”
Citing the UAPA charges against Rao, Raju said, “Age is not relevant owing to the gravity of the offences. Please see his conduct. He was trying to overthrow the democratically elected government of Narendra Modi
