On Monday, the Bombay High Court granted bail to poet-activist and Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case on medical grounds. 81-year old Rao has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act (UAPA) for his alleged involvement in the Elgar-Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence.
The court observed that there were inadequate facilities in the Taloja jail hospital ,where the octogenarian Marxist-Maoist activist has been lodged. It was a “genuine and fit” case for granting bail, the court added, in view of Rao’s advanced age.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had asked for Rao’s release to be put off for three weeks, which the bench comprising Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pithale refused.
“Crime of conscience”?
Pendyala Hemalatha, Rao’s wife, had petitioned that her husband’s fundamental rights to health, dignity and life, and therefore his rights under Article 21 of the Constitution had been violated.
Indira Jaising, the advocate appearing for Rao and Hemalatha, argued that Varavara’s crime was “in his mind”. “His crime is in his mind, it’s a crime of conscience. If he disagrees with the policies of the government… he does. If for that he is prosecuted, it will be prosecution for ideas”, she had argued.
Throughout his life, Varavara Rao has been associated with Marxist and Maoist groups who often advocated a violent, revolutionary overthrow of government. Rao was deeply influenced by the Naxalbari uprisings in West Bengal, which also inspired waves of violence in Rao’s home-state of Andhra Pradesh. Pune police had even arrested Rao in connection with an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Modi in June 2018.
Varavara Rao was arrested on August 28, 2018 for his alleged involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon violence on January 1, 2018. An FIR filed in Pune alleged that on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, an evening programme called Elgar Parishad had been organised, in which noted Leftist activists and underground Naxalite groups had participated. Police claimed that speeches delivered at the event on December 31, 2017, were partly responsible for inciting violence the next day.
Among others arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act (UAPA), are activists Rona Wilson, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj , Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde. Repeated bail appeals by Rao on the ground of his failing health have been rejected in the last 22 months.
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