Activist Mahesh Raut (33), youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, moved the Bombay High Court on Tuesday seeking direction for a COVID-19 test, after he had symptoms of coronavirus.
According to a report by The Hindu, advocate Vijay Hiremath represented Raut. He was arrested on June 6, 2018 and is lodged at the Taloja Central jail. Petition filed by Raut states that he is currently suffering from high fever and diarrhoea, and has been in touch with fellow prison inmates who have tested COVID-19 positive.
Meanwhile, Bombay High Court on Tuesday permitted family members of poet Varavara Rao to meet him at Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital where the 81-year-old is undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
A bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and VG Bisht granted permission and said that the meeting would be subject to hospital protocol on granting access to relatives of COVID-19 victims. Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case, tested positive for coronavirus on July 16 and has been undergoing treatment at the Nanavati Hospital.
The HC granted permission after Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, counsel for National Investigation Agency (NIA) told court the agency had no objection to Rao's family being permitted to meet him, or to his family being informed of his health condition, subject to hospital protocols.
(Inputs from Agencies)