The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition filed by Bhima Koregaon violence accused P Varavara Rao seeking modification of his bail order which prohibits him from leaving the jurisdiction of the trial court in Mumbai. The court, however, permitted him to withdraw the plea.
A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi said that he can manage to get treatment in Mumbai finding no ground to entertain his application seeking permission to shift to Hyderabad.
“The state will take care of your health. We are not interested in entertaining the application. You may otherwise go to the same court,” the bench said.
Rao, 85, had sought modification of the bail order of August 10, 2022 granted by the top court on medical grounds and considering his advanced age.
Senior advocate Anand Grover appearing for Rao pointed out that in Hyderabad there are many doctors in the family and he will get free medical treatment as he is a pensioner.
Grover said that currently Rao is staying in Greater Mumbai where he is incurring a monthly medical expense of ₹76,000 while his pension is only ₹50,000.
“He will manage with that,” the bench said, expressing its disinclination to entertain the plea. Grover requested the court to withdraw the application claiming that he may prefer to press the application later.
The bench allowed the request and said, “The same is dismissed as withdrawn.”
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Rao, in his application filed through advocate Paras Nath Singh, urged the court to consider his advanced age and cited change in circumstances as his wife, who used to stay with him in Mumbai, is also aged 75 and is falling sick frequently. Further, the application stated that even Rao’s health was deteriorating.
Rao was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017. This, the NIA claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city, leading to death of one person and injuries to several others. NIA claimed that Rao had Maoist links and indulged in anti-national activities.
He was among the first to be granted bail on medical grounds in the case as the top court noted his health condition and made his bail permanent.
At the time of release, he had already spent two and a half years behind bars as an under-trial.
However, the top court imposed conditions which required that he would not leave the jurisdiction of the trial court in Mumbai nor would he contact witnesses in the case. Rao was allowed to avail medical treatment of his choice, but was asked to keep NIA apprised of his treatment.
