The Bombay High Court on Friday extended the time to return to jail for Elgar Parishad accused Varavara Rao till December 20.
The extension was granted after the Nanavati Hospital informed that it needs two weeks’ time to schedule and conduct a comprehensive medical examination of Varavara Rao for various ailments.
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal granted Nanavati Super Specialty Hospital till December 16 to conduct the tests and submit a report to the Bombay High Court.
Following this, the court extended Rao’s previous interim protection, ordering him to surrender by December 20. The court adjourned the case till December 17.
Advocate Sandesh Patil, appearing for the investigating agency NIA, said that Dr Harshad Limaye, Internal Medicine Specialist at Nanavati Hospital, was not available at the time but would return on Monday when a plan of all the medical tests to be performed on Rao would be made.
Varavara Rao seeks extension of medical bail
Varavara Rao underwent an operation recently and has been seeking an extension of bail. However, the NIA has stated that Rao should be medically examined and, if medical bail cannot be extended, he should be asked to surrender.
While the NIA stated that Rao should be examined at the civic-run JJ Hospital, Rao’s attorneys argued that he should be examined at a private hospital at the expense of the investigating agency.
Rao was admitted to the Nanavati hospital in November 2020 and was released in March 2021 after being granted interim medical bail.
The Maharashtra government was required to pay for the bills incurred during Rao’s stay at the hospital, which is yet to be paid, according to hospital sources.
The state government has been handed a bill for Rs 32 lakh, which has yet to be cleared, sources added.
The NIA was also informed about the pending bill of Rs 32 lakh. However, the agency clarified that the expense incurred during the tests scheduled for the next two weeks is the only one that will be paid.
The high court will be hearing the case further on December 17 and the time to surrender has been extended till December 20.
The Elgar Parishad case
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city’s outskirts.
The Pune police had claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. The probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named accused, was later transferred to the NIA.
(With PTI Inputs)
Read | Varavara Rao for medical checkup at private hospital in Mumbai: NIA tells Bombay HC
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bombay-hc-defers-varavara-rao-surrender-dec-20-seeks-nia-medical-report-dec16-1883935-2021-12-04
