Varavara Rao, the 81-year-old poet and activist who has been in jail for over two years in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, was granted bail for six months by the Bombay High Court on Monday on medical grounds. Rao however, has been asked to be in Mumbai and be available for investigation whenever he is called. His family lives in Hyderabad.
The Bhima Koregaon case, which is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), alleges some activists of making provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police say led to violence the following day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial. Rao and nine others were accused of planning the violence with Maoists. He however, has denied the charge made against him.
Rao is now admitted at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital where he is undergoing treatment. He was admitted to the hospital by the Maharashtra government following the high court’s intervention. His lawyers have been urging for bail on grounds of poor health and age.
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