The Bombay High Court on December 20 extended the time for 82-year-old Varavara Rao to surrender till January 7.
A division bench of justices Nitin Jamdar and S.V. Kotwal was hearing a plea filed by Mr. Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence.
He is currently out on medical bail and is residing in Mumbai with his wife. He urged the court to allow him to go back home to Telangana. He was granted interim medical bail for six months on February 22 and has filed for an extension of the same in court.
On the last occasion, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had submitted a one-page medical report stating Mr. Rao is normal.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing the probe agency, said Mr. Rao had medical issues and those have been resolved. He said, “He [Mr. Rao] is over 80 years old. Obviously there will be medical problem. But that does not mean he keeps taking extensions forever. He has to surrender sometime. I don’t see why this plea should survive.”
Senior advocate Anand Grover appearing for Mr. Rao said the court had granted him bail making certain observations on the heath aspect. He read out the portions of the order passed in April 2021, granting temporary bail to Mr. Rao.
The court took on record that the Nanavati hospital’s report can be accepted and it was not necessary to analyse the reports. “The applicant was allowed to be released on medical bail. As the division bench had earlier followed this protocol, we will also follow the same, and we grant time to Mr. Rao to file his reply.”
Raising an objection, Mr. Singh said he would never surrender if this went on and that it was like getting bail.
The bench directed Mr. Grover to file the affidavit by December 28 and posted the hearing for January 4 while extending time for Mr. Rao to surrender till January 7.
