Bhima Koregaon case: Varavara Rao need not surrender to NIA till Sept 25 says Bombay HC

In a minor reprieve to Telugu poet Varavara Rao, the Bombay High Court on Monday, allowed him to not surrender till September 25 to NIA. Rao who is accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, is currently out on medical bail and has sought a 6-month extension to the interim bail. Rao, 81, resides in Mumbai within the jurisdiction as per the bail orders and has sought to reside in Hyderabad with his family.

The Bombay High Court bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar adjourned the matter to September 25 - allowing him to not surrender till that date. Rao's counsel highlighted that has Rao is suffering from new health complications and is living in a rented flat in Mumbai along with his wife and has employed two servants. Rao was supposed to surrender to NIA on Sept 5.

In March, the 81-year-old Varavara Rao was granted bail for six months by the Bombay High Court on medical grounds, after he was admitted to Mumbai's Nanavati hospital due to ill-health. The court asked Rao to remain in Mumbai and be available for investigation whenever needed. He was also told to submit his passport before the NIA and has been forbidden to establish any contact with his co-accused in the case. Moreover, he was not allowed to leave the NIA's jurisdiction i.e Mumbai and was granted bail on a personal bond of ₹ 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount. Rao has been in Taloja jail awaiting trial since August 2018 and has spent 149 days in hospital.

Swamy dies in Taloja jail, waiting for bail

On July 5,  84-year-old Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy breathed his last at a Mumbai hospital where he had been admitted. Undertrial in the Bhima Koregaon case, Father Stan Swamy's counsel informed the Bombay High Court of his passing away as the court took up his bail plea for hearing. The octogenarian tribal activist had applied for bail on medical grounds after he was arrested on October 8, 2020, from his residence in Ranchi. Facing severe flak for the death of India's oldest political prisoner, MHA refuted any human rights' violation as Swamy died without getting bail or trial in the case.

Pune police booked activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, P Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde for allegedly inciting the Bhima Koregaon violence through their speech at the Elgar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). On the following day - January 1, 2018, violence had erupted at Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune district where supporters had gathered in the village to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The ensuing violence had resulted in the death of one person and several others had been injured - 152 have been arrested. The above accused except Swamy and Rao remain in jail charged with 'conspiracy to assassinate PM Narendra Modi', 'overthrow the government', 'waging war against the Government of India', The case is being investigated by the NIA which has filed multiple chargesheets.