'Rao must go back to prison as other old people also in jail'

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday urged the Bombay High Court to direct poet-activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to surrender before the Taloja prison authorities, saying that several "other old people" in need of medical treatment were also in prisons.

The NIA made the submission as a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal extended the time for 83-year-old Rao to surrender till January 7, 2022.

Rao was granted temporary medical bail for six months by the HC in February this year and was supposed to surrender on September 5, but he applied for the extension of such bail, stating that he continued to suffer from several ailments.

The HC has extended his bail multiple times due to reasons like the need for further medical care, and time sought by the NIA to get him medically examined.

On Monday, as Rao's counsel Anand Grover sought time to file an affidavit responding to his medical examination reports submitted by the Nanavati Hospital here, the NIA opposed any further extension of time for surrender.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the NIA, told the HC that on December 17, a panel of expert doctors from the Nanavati Hospital, a private medical facility, submitted a one-page document stating that Rao had been examined thoroughly, his vital parameters were stable, and he did not need continued medical treatment or hospitalisation.

"We are not experts to examine or analyse Nanavati Hospital's opinion. Once it says that he (Rao) is fit for discharge, then there is no question of any further extension," Singh told the HC

"In jail, there are other old people who need medical treatment. They are treated when needed. Let him (Rao) surrender. His age can't be a ground for extension," Singh said.

However, Grover told the bench that though the NIA had submitted Nanavati Hospital's opinion on Rao's medical condition, and his medical reports, he must be permitted to file an affidavit to inform the court whether or not Rao was in a position to be sent back to the prison.

He said in February this year, the bench of Justices S SShinde and Manish Pitale had granted medical bail to Rao, despite a similar opinion from the Nanavati Hospital.

"On my original application, Nanavati Hospital had given a similar conclusion. The hospital had said at the time that I (Rao) didn't need indoor hospital treatment and could be discharged from the hospital," Grover said.

But, the HC bench (of Justices Shinde and Pitale) had granted bail observing that Rao's condition was "not compatible for being sent to judicial custody", he said.

The current bench of Justices Jamdar and Kotwal then asked what the NIA had to say about the previous bench's observations.