Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday asked Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, to approach the division bench seeking leave to travel to Hyderabad to get cataract surgery done free-of-cost there. Justice Sarang Kotwal observed that Rao’s plea was essentially seeking modification of bail conditions imposed on him by a division bench while granting him bail last year.
Plea To Be Now Converted Into Appeal
The plea will now be converted into an appeal and is likely to be heard by a division bench led by Justice Ajey S Gadkari in due course. Rao has contended that he has sought permission to travel to Hyderabad since the surgery was expensive in Mumbai. Rao claimed that he was entitled to free medical treatment up to Rs2 lakh in Telangana as he is a pensioner.His plea contended that his family members are doctors and one of them is an ophthalmologist who can provide better care to him. The plea added that Rao’s experience with government hospitals in Mumbai had been abysmal and the same was considered by the high court while granting him temporary medical bail in 2021. He also contended that private hospitals are costly, where he cannot afford cataract operation.
Justice Amit Borkar, on April 27, had sought a reply from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Rao’s plea and asked the NIA lawyer to verify whether Rao’s claims about free treatment were factually correct. “Because that is the crux of this matter,” Justice Borkar had said.
