Varavara Rao medically stable as per hosp report, he must surrender: NIA to HC

The NIA on Friday told the Bombay High Court that the health condition of poet Varavara Rao an accused in the Elgar ParishadMaoists links case who is currently on an interim medical bail granted in February this year was stable and hence must surrender before the prison authoritiesNational Investigation Agency NIA counsel Sandesh Patil told a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal that 83yearold Rao had been medically examined earlier this month by a panel of doctors at the private Nanavati Hospital in the city and the doctors were of the opinion that Rao does not need continuous medical attention or hospitalisation at presentBefore being granted medical bail Rao was lodged in Taloja prison of Navi MumbaiHis health condition is stable now and the time granted via medical bail to him by this court is already over So he Rao should surrender now All other issues raised by Raos lawyers can be examined after that Patil told the high courtRao was granted medical bail for six months in February this year by a bench led by Justice SS Shinde He was due to surrender on September 5 this year but the time of his surrender has been extended several times by the high court since then due to reasons such as need for further medical care time sought by NIA to get him medically examined etcAlso Read Elgar case accused Varavara Rao need not surrender till December 2 Bombay High CourtRaos counsel senior advocate Anand Grover told the bench on Friday that although the NIA had submitted the Nanavati Hospitals opinion on Raos medical condition the same wasnt backed by any medical examination reports He said that the high court bench must not accept such conclusion of the hospital authorities without insisting on the poets original medical reportsThe report submitted by the NIA is signed by two doctors from the Nanavati Hospital It says that Raos health condition was evaluated by multiple consultants at the hospital on December 1 this yearCurrently he has minor symptoms such as lack of sleep and slight exhaustion His vital parameters are in normal range The remaining clinical examination reveals no significant abnormalities the document submitted by the agency readsIt further says that Raos blood pressure was slightly high and hence he was prescribed requisite medicationHe is able to do all his activities of daily living the document states adding though that Rao experiences some slowness in activitiesAfter going through the report the bench led by Justice Jamdar asked Grover why the court must insist on verifying the claims made in the document when it clearly stated that Rao had been examined as per the high courts order passed on November 18 and that he was deemed to be medically stable by the hospitalThe hospital of your choice saying that everything is normal now the HC saidGrover however said that the high court must keep in mind orders of the Supreme Court that say that an appellate court has the mandate to check if the expert opinion is correct and is based on medical reports or factsNo expert opinion can be without reasons this is now a settled law Grover saidThe high court then directed that the Nanavati Hospital submit Raos original medical reports by Monday December 20Ask the hospital to submit original medical reports on Monday If we find there is something that needs to be addressed we will hear the parties the high court told the NIAIt further said that Rao neednt surrender before the Taloja prison authorities till thenThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever