Bombay:
The Bombay Supreme Court on Saturday extended until March 3 the “medical bail” awarded to poet and activist Varavara Rao, a suspect in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist Left case.
Rao, 82, was first granted bail on health grounds in February 2021 for a period of six months. He was also asked not to leave Mumbai.
He then filed for bail extension and then filed another plea for permanent bail on the grounds of ill health.
Since September 2021, the court has extended the time given to him to surrender several times.
On Saturday, Mr. Rao’s lawyers mentioned his new plea for bail extension before a division bench of Judges SB Shukre and AM Borkar.
Mr Rao said in his application that according to medical reports he has asymptomatic Parkinson’s disease and neurological disorders and is suffering from severe abdominal pain suggestive of an umbilical hernia.
He also requested an amendment to the bail condition that he will not be allowed to leave Mumbai, and requested that he return to his home state, Telangana.
The court said it would hear the application on March 1 and extend the surrender deadline to March 3.
Earlier this week, a bank headed by Judge SS Shinde withdrew (withdrawn) from cases related to the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case.
Chief Justice Dipankar Datta then assigned the cases to the bench headed by Judge Shukre.
The case concerns the alleged incendiary speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police alleged led to violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the following day.
The Pune police, which initially investigated the matter, claimed the conclave was supported by Maoists. The NIA later took over the probe.
In addition to Mr Rao, several other activists have been arrested in the case under the strict Prevention of Illegal Activities Act.