Bombay High Court extends bail of Varavara Rao till March 21

The petition filed and accepted on Monday mentioned that Rao is currently living in Malad on rent, while unable to afford further treatment and should therefore be allowed to move back to his residence in Hyderabad.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday upheld the bail granted to 82-year-old Telugu poet Varavara Rao, who was on a medical bail after being booked for alleged Maoist connection in the Bhima Koregaon and Elgar Parishad case of 2018. A bench of Bombay High Court comprising Justices SS Shinde and NR Borkar extended Rao's surrender till March 21.

The High Court had previously granted bail to Rao in February, while his lawyers had filed a petition for its extension citing his ill health and growing age. While granting the bail, Rao was directed to surrender before the expiry of his medical bail, with the clarification that the interim bail has been granted on strict conditions.

The petition filed and accepted on Monday mentioned that Rao is currently living in Malad on rent, while unable to afford further treatment and should therefore be allowed to move back to his residence in Hyderabad.

Rao's bail application was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), while arguing that his medical report did not mention the extent of severity of his illness, which was overruled by the HC. Varavara Rao was arrested on August 28, 2018 in connection with Bhima Koregaon communal violence as well as urban Naxalism and was lodged in Taloja Central Jail.