4 min readMumbaiApr 14, 2022 04:24 AM IST
First published on: Apr 13, 2022 at 11:29 AM IST
The Bombay High Court Wednesday dismissed pleas filed by Elgaar Parishad accused Varavara Rao, who had sought permanent medical bail and permission to shift to Hyderabad in Telangana citing ill health and high expenses in Mumbai. However, the court extended the interim bail granted to Rao by three months to undergo cataract surgery.
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The court found said it some substance in contentions raised by the petitioner over conditions at Taloja central prison and said that it noted some deficiencies and passed directions in that regard.
A division bench led by justice Sunil B Shukre directed the Inspector General (Prisons) of Maharashtra to collect information from Taloja and all prisons on the appointment of medical officers and nursing and other staff as per Maharashtra Prisons Hospital Rules, 1970 and give his candid opinion on the same. It asked the IG (Prisons) to file the compliance report by April 30 as per 1970 Rules.
The bench also directed the special NIA court to expedite the trial and conduct it on a day to day basis and asked the parties to the case to extend cooperation. It also asked the special court to make a note of grievances raised by all parties pertaining to the delay in the trial.
The court had concluded the hearing and reserved its verdict on March 21 and extended the time for Rao to return to jail till the date of pronouncement of its judgment. Rao was granted bail by HC on health grounds on February 22 last year, and it has been extended from time to time.
A division bench of Justice Shukre and Justice Govinda A Sanap, on March 8, had sought National Investigation Agency (NIA) and state prison department’s response to Rao’s plea filed through advocate R Sathyanarayanan. It had sought to know why Rao could not be granted permanent medical bail and raised questions over the conditions at Taloja jail. “Now is the right time to change your attitude? His age is further advanced. There are no facilities in Taloja and his condition has been found to be incompatible with the conditions at Taloja,” the HC had remarked.
Senior advocate Anand Grover said that while Rao’s condition is worsening due to Parkinson’s disease, he has already spent over two-and-a-half years in custody as an undertrial and deserves to be released on permanent medical bail. Grover also said Hyderabad, where he can stay with his family, has good medical facilities and treatment is free for government officials.
Grover added that while Rao, a former professor, is getting a monthly pension of Rs 50,000 from the state of Telangana, he was spending nearly Rs 96,000 per month for his stay in Mumbai and meals. He added that ailments such as cataract, Parkinson’s disease, and umbilical hernia required constant medical intervention and after undergoing surgery on the hernia, he required a full-time caretaker.
However, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh along with advocate Sandesh Patil—appearing for NIA—had stated that Rao’s request for permanent medical bail and leave to move to Telangana has been refused by the earlier bench. The HC had opined last year that as an undertrial prisoner Rao “cannot be granted bail on medical grounds, for the present, for an unlimited period of time and unconditionally.”
Singh argued that as and when Rao requires medical assistance, proper care will be taken by prison authorities and state-run J J Hospital, which has excellent doctors.
Singh submitted that the said verdict remained unchallenged and has attained the finality, therefore permanent bail on health grounds cannot be granted to him considering the serious offences levelled against Rao concerning national security under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
He added that as per section 437 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the petitioner was required to first approach the special NIA court seeking relief and therefore his writ plea in HC was not maintainable.
Singh said that the period of six months for temporary medical bail had expired, after which Rao had filed an extension of the same; however, even the subsequent period of six months had already lapsed.
Detailed judgement will be made available in due course.
the court extended the interim bail granted to Rao by three months to undergo cataract surgery. (PTI/File) 
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