The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea by activist and poet P Varavara Rao, an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence in Maharashtra, seeking modification of his bail condition.
Rao has sought modification of the condition which required him to seek prior permission from the trial court if he wished to leave the Greater Mumbai area.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi expressed disinclination to grant modification and the matter was dismissed as withdrawn.
"Government will take care of his health or go to the same court. We are not interested," the bench said.
Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, submitted that the activist has been out on bail for four years but his health is deteriorating.
Grover stated that Rao's wife used to take care of him earlier but she has shifted to Hyderabad.
He said there is no one to look after him at present and the trial is also not likely to be completed anytime soon.
The top court on August 10, 2022 granted bail to Rao on medical grounds.
The apex court said: "He is 82 years old. He has been in custody for two and a half years. Though chargesheet (has been) filed, some of the accused (are) still not apprehended and matter has not been taken up for framing of charges against accused before court.
The bench continued: "This bail is purely on medical grounds. The order shall not be a precedent for the cases of other accused or the appellant itself on merits." The top court ordered Rao not to leave the jurisdiction of Mumbai "without express permission of the trial court".
"He should not misuse his liberty or get in touch with witnesses. He is entitled to medical treatment of his choice. But he has to keep the NIA (National Investigation Agency) informed about the same," the court said.
The Telugu poet was arrested on 28 August, 2018, from his home in Hyderabad and was an under-trial in the Bhima Koregaon case in which an FIR was lodged by the Pune Police at Vishrambagh Police Station on January 8, 2018, under various sections of IPC and several provisions of the UAPA.
Initially, Rao was put under house arrest and on November 17, 2018, was taken into police custody. He was later shifted to Taloja Jail in Maharashtra.
On February 22, 2021, the Bombay High Court granted him bail on medical grounds and he was released on 6 March.
On April 13, 2022, however, the court dismissed the activist's plea for permanent bail but extended his temporary medical bail by three months.
The court also dismissed Rao's plea seeking a transfer back to Telangana. Rao has been out on medical bail in Mumbai.
The case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
The Pune police said the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.
Later, the NIA took over the probe in the case.
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