More than two years after his arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, the Bombay High Court on Monday granted conditional bail to poet and writer Pendyala Varavara Rao for six months on medical grounds.
Releasing to the 82-year-old Left wing activist for a period of six months against a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two solvent sureties for equal amounts, a HC division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale noted: “We are of the opinion that appropriate conditions need to be imposed on the under-trial even if he is to be released on bail on medical conditions”.
Rao is currently undergoing medical treatment at Nanavati Hospital in north-west Mumbai, where he was admitted by the Maharashtra government following court orders.
“Rao is directed to be discharged from the Nanavati Hospital depending on the health condition as on today and he be released on bail for the present, for a period of six months...,” the Judges ruled.
“We feel that although the material on record does show that the health condition of the under-trial is precarious, sending the under-trial back to where he belongs, is fraught with the risk of his presence being used by those allegedly associated with him to seek to revive the aforesaid nefarious activities,” the Judges observed.
“This court cannot rule out such a contingency and, therefore, it would be appropriate to impose such conditions as would be necessary for ensuring that the under-trial on his own or those allegedly associated with him do not take undue advantage of the situation, which would ultimately adversely affect the trial,” the HC opined.
Among the conditions imposed on Rao include: he shall not leave the jurisdiction of the NIA Court at Mumbai on being released; he shall inform the NIA court about his place of residence and his contact number; he shall attend the court proceedings as and when summoned; he may apply for exemption from personal appearances and he shall report to the nearest police station through WhatsApp Video Call every fortnight.
“The under-trial (Rao) shall not indulge in any activity similar to the activities on the basis of which the said FIR stood registered against him for offences under the IPC and UAPA,” the HC ruled
The HC mandated that Rao “shall not try to establish communication with co-accused or any other person involved directly or indirectly in similar activities or make any international call to any person indulging in similar activities as alleged against him, through any mode of communication” and he “shall not undertake any action which is prejudicial to the proceedings before the NIA Court”.
When the Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh sought a three-weeks stay on the HC order, the Judges rejected the plea considering 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. Rao was arrested by the Pune police on January 31, 2019 and he was charged under offences under Sections 121, 121(A), 153(A), 505(1)(B), 117, 120(B), 124(A) read with Section 34 of the IPC and Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 18(B), 20, 38, 39 and 40 of the UAPA.
The charge against Rao is that being is a senior member of a banned organization-Communist Party of India (Maoist), he has been allegedly actively involved in arranging funding and providing arms and ammunition to the cadre of his organization to wage war against the established Government, causing death of a number of security personnel and citizens.
Rao, who had been hospitalised on a couple during the course of incarceration, was admitted to the Nanavati Hospital on July 19,2020 following the intervention by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).