News Analysis India

Tag: Varavara Rao

  • Conditions of Varavara Rao’s detention cruel, inhuman: Lawyer tells Bombay HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The conditions of poet Varavara Rao’s detention are “cruel, inhuman, and degrading”, senior lawyer Indira Jaising told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, and urged it to exercise its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to release him from prison.

    Rao, an octogenarian poet-activist, is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case and is lodged in Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai as an undertrial.

    However, he is currently admitted to the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.

    Jaising is the counsel for Rao’s wife Hemlatha in a writ petition filed last year by the latter, alleging the breach of Rao’s fundamental right to life due to his continued incarceration without adequate medical facilities.

    Jaising told a bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale on Wednesday that Rao’s right to dignity and health were being breached due to his detention and that the court must exercise its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to release him from prison.

    “I am submitting that there is violation of right to life and dignity. The conditions of his (Rao’s) detention are cruel, inhuman and degrading,” Jaising said.

    “The right to health and dignity is a faucet, a fundamental right under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,” she said.

    “The right to life and dignity is fundamental right under Article 21,” Jaising added.

    The court, however, said that such claims to fundamental rights were “general submissions”.

    “Considering his (Rao’s) age and health, you can argue specifically,” it said.

    During the same hearing earlier in the day, the bench also heard arguments by Rao’s counsel, senior advocate Anand Grover, on his bail plea on medical grounds.

    Grover reiterated that the Taloja prison hospital was inept to provide requisite medical care to the ailing poet.

    He suggested that Rao could be granted bail for a trial period of three months and in the meantime he could report to any authority as the court directed.

    Grover concluded his arguments on Rao’s medical bail plea on Wednesday, after which Jaising began her arguments.

    On Tuesday, the counsel for NIA, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh and the state’s counsel Deepak Thakare had informed the court that Rao’s condition had improved and that as per the Nanavati Hospital authorities, he was fit to be discharged.

    The high court will continue hearing the arguments on the writ petition filed by Rao’s wife in Thursday.

    Rao has been in an out of the JJ hospital in the city and the Taloja prison hospital since his arrest in June 2018.

    On July 16 this year, he tested positive for coronavirus, after which he was shifted to the Nanavati hospital in the city.

    He was discharged from Nanavati following a final assessment report on July 30 and sent back to the Taloja prison.

    In November last year, he was admitted to Nanavati Hospital again following the intervention of a bench of Justice Shinde and Justice M S Karnik.

    Rao and some other Left-leaning activists were earlier arrested for alleged links with Maoists following the Elgar Parishad conclave in Maharashtra’s Pune district on December 31, 2017.

  • Taloja prison hospital lacks infrastructure: Varavara Rao’s lawyer to HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The counsel for poet-activist Varavara Rao, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case and currently admitted in a private hospital here, on Tuesday requested the Bombay High Court to grant him bail on the medical grounds, saying the Taloja Prison hospital in Navi Mumbai lacks adequate infrastructure to treat him.

    Senior advocate Anand Grover told a bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale that the Taloja prison where Rao was lodged as an undertrial does not have the necessary infrastructure to provide proper medical care to him.

    Rao, 82, is currently admitted in Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.

    Rao’s latest medical report from the hospital says that he is “hemodynamically stable and fit for discharge”, Grover told the HC.

    “However, once discharged and shifted to the Taloja prison, Rao will require constant monitoring and medical attention, for which the infrastructure at the Taloja prison hospital will be inadequate,” Grover said.

    Grover said Rao was suffering from kidney failure and a host of other ailments for which he was being administered around 20 different medicines a day when he was admitted at the Taloja prison hospital.

    These medicines were for serious health issues like heart ailments, blood pressure, and recurring delirium with dementia like symptoms, he said, adding they included blood thinner and anti-depressants.

    Grover urged the HC to let Rao be with his family to recover fully and be fit to face trial in the case.

    “The Taloja prison hospital is not equipped to monitor him. There are structural problems. And we do not want the public exchequer to be used for this (Rao’s treatment) always, especially when there are two doctors in his house. His daughter and son-in-law are doctors,” Grover told the HC.

    He said when Rao was admitted to the government-run JJ hospital in Mumbai last year, he was not taken care of “properly”, and hence he had to be admitted to Nanavati Hospital.

    The bench, however, intervened saying state-run JJ Hospital and St George Hospital are considered to be among “the best hospitals” with competent doctors.

    “However with the influx of patients amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital must have been overwhelmed,” the bench said.

    “Many citizens, including a former Chief Justice of this court, preferred state and civic run hospitals like JJ and St George over private hospitals,” the HC said.

    Grover further submitted that Rao was accused in 24 cases, and that he was acquitted in all of them.

    “He is willing to stand trial tomorrow (in the present case). But that will not be fair. He suffers from a neurological problem. If he is allowed to be with his family, Rao will be in a position to stand for trial,” he said.

    National Investigation Agency’s counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the bench that Rao had recovered enough to be discharged from the private hospital and be shifted to the Taloja prison.

    The ASG also said that Rao’s initial medical reports did not mention that he suffered from dementia.

    At this point, the bench asked if dementia was a reversible condition, “and how could it be that Rao’s counsel said he suffered from dementia but the NIA said he did not”.

    Grover explained that Rao is prone to delirium as his sodium levels keep plunging low.

    “This delirium brings about repeated symptoms of dementia,” he said.

    The HC will continue hearing the arguments on Rao’s bail plea on Wednesday.

    Rao has been in an out of JJ Hospital and the Taloja prison hospital since his arrest in June, 2018.

    On July 16 last year, Rao tested positive for coronavirus, after which he was shifted to Nanavati Hospital.

    He was discharged from the hospital following a final assessment report on July 30 and sent back to the Taloja prison.

    In December last year, Rao was admitted to the private hospital again following the intervention of a bench of Justice Shinde andJustice MS Karnik.

    Besides his bail plea on medical grounds, the HC is also hearing a writ petition filed by Rao’s wife Hemlatha, alleging a breach of his fundamental rights due to his continued incarceration without adequate medical care.

    Rao and a few other left-leaning activists were arrested for alleged links with Naxals following the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017.

  • Consider Varavara Rao’s age, health while making submissions: Bombay HC to NIA

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said the NIA and the Maharashtra government should consider the age and health condition of poet-activist Varavara Rao, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, while making submissions on his bail plea.

    A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale posted Rao’s plea seeking bail on medical grounds for hearing on Thursday.

    Rao, one of the accused in the case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), was last month admitted to Nanavati Hospital here following the HC’s intervention while hearing a petition filed by his wife, raising concerns over his ill-health.

    Since then, the private hospital has been submitting periodical reports on Rao’s health condition to the HC.

    The Maharashtra government last month agreed to bear the expenses for his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital.

    “The petitioner (Rao) is 88 years’ old. Keep in view his age and health conditions. While making submissions on the bail plea, reflect on his health. We are all human beings,” Justice Shinde said.

    Earlier, Rao had been in and out of the state-run J J Hospital here ever since his arrest in the case in June 2018.

    In July last year, he tested positive for coronavirus following which he was admitted to the Nanavati Hospital, but later discharged and sent back to the Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

    Apart from Rao’s bail plea, the court is also hearing a petition filed by his wife Hemlatha, alleging a breach of his fundamental rights due to his continued incarceration without adequate medical care.

    Rao and some other Left-leaning activists were earlier arrested for alleged links with Maoists following the Elgar Parishad conclave in Maharashtra’s Pune district on December 31, 2017.