'Why shouldn't Varavara Rao be granted permanent bail on health grounds'

The Bombay High Court asked the National Investigation Agency NIA why shouldnt permanent medical bail be granted to poetactivist Varavara Rao an accused in the Elgar ParishadMaoist Links case who suffers from several health ailmentsA bench led by Justice SB Shukre asked the question after Raos counsel Anand Grover listed out from Raos medical reports several health conditions he suffers from including signs of early Parkinsons disease The bench extended till March 21 the time granted to Rao who is currently on temporary medical bail to surrender before Taloja prison authoritiesThe bench of Justice Shukre also said another HC bench in its previous order passed in February 2021 had granted temporary medical bail to Rao for six months owing to his illhealth At the time the bench had observed that the conditions at Taloja prison where Rao was lodged as an undertrial were incompatible with his health condition Justice Shukre notedHe also said that in its February 2021 order the HC had held that sending Rao back to prison would result in further deterioration of his health What is on our mind are the findings of the court while granting him temporary medical bail Those findings have attained finality and we dont understand why he Rao cant be granted permanent bail when there is a finding that placing the undertrial in custody is incompatible with his health condition and would risk deterioration of his health to a point of no return HC said adding that this is a categorical findingNational Investigation Agency counsel Sandesh Patil however objected to such relief arguing that the 2021 order was passed when the Covid19 pandemic was raging These findings were also based on the COVID situation Why didnt the court then and there grant permanent bail If Taloja jail is a black sheep let him go to any other jail Patil saidWe didnt challenge the 2021 decision before the Supreme Court at the time because we had to take a lenient view considering he is 82 years old and because of Covid I myself had Covid and several of us have lost near and dear ones Patil said The HC however asked the NIA why the agency thought now was the right time to change its attitude His age has further advanced There are no facilities in Taloja and his condition has been found to be incompatible with the conditions at Taloja the HC said Patil argued that Rao had approached HC with unclean hands and that he had filed frivolous pleas to stay out of prisonRaos lawyer senior counsel Anand Grover told HC Raos health was still poor He further told HC the poetactivist was a retired professor with a monthly pension of Rs 50000 and he was currently staying in Retreat House a charitable residence run by Christain missionaries in Bandra It is used only for conferences and he got it after much labour But he has to vacate it on March 15 It is very difficult to find and afford a house in Mumbai especially for someone charged under UAPA Grover saidHe urged HC to grant Rao permanent medical bail and to permit him to stay in his hometown Hyderabad while on bail Rao had 25 cases against him and he never ran away Is he going to run away now in the last stages of his life Of those 25 cases he was acquitted in 24 cases Yet he holds no grudges against anyone He has all reasons and intention to stand for trial Grover said The High Court granted two weeks to the NIA to file its reply affidavit to Raos plea seeking permanent bail It will hear the final arguments on the plea on March 21This 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