By Express News Service
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday extended the interim medical bail granted to 81-year-old Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, till September 24.The court posted the matter for hearing on September 24 when it will decide on whether to extend the medical bail further or ask Rao to surrender. Rao is suffering from several neurological and age-related ailments.
Rao was granted bail on February 22 for six months on a cash bond of Rs 50,000 by a Division Bench of justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale.The NIA opposed the extension of bail to Rao, saying his medical report does not disclose any major aliment that necessitates the extension of bail or require him to reside at his home in Hyderabad to take treatment.
Rao has been living with his wife P Hemalatha at Malad East in Mumbai. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, informed the bench that Rao was living in a rented flat with his wife. He plead the court to allow him to reside in Hyderabad with his family.
The NIA, which is probing the case, filed an affidavit saying, “The Taloja jail authorities have been following the jail code and providing the best medical facilities as per the jail manual. The surgery for cataract and hernia can be done in judicial custody under the supervision of doctors of government hospitals,” the NIA said.
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