The Supreme Court on Friday rejected poet and alleged Maoist sympathiser P. Vara Vara Rao’s plea for permission to relocate from Mumbai to Hyderabad for treatment in view of his deteriorating health, saying the government would take care of his needs.
Rao, 84, is out on bail granted by the Supreme Court on August 10, 2022, on medical grounds after his prolonged imprisonment in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence in Maharashtra. The court had asked him not to leave Mumbai.
Before the bail, Rao had been in Taloja jail from August 24, 2018, along with several other activists for the December 31, 2017, Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad-related violence and alleged links with Maoists.
On Friday, the bench turned down the plea of senior advocate Anand Grover appearing for Rao that the activist needed to be shifted to Hyderabad, where he has relatives and friends, some of whom are doctors.
The bench declined the plea, saying: "The government will take care of his health. You may also go to the same court (the court did not specify which court). We are not interested in entertaining the application."