Updated: November 12, 2020 10:31:24 pm
Varavara Rao was released from a private hospital in August after more than a month of hospitalization and returned to Taloja prison.
On Thursday, the Bombay High Court ordered the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and the Taloja prison authorities to organize a medical examination of the Telugu poet and writer Varavara Rao, defendant in the Elgaar Parishad case, via video the Thursday or Friday at the latest, preferably by doctors from Hospital Nanavati who have treated you before.
“In the case, if the doctors consider that the evaluation is not possible through a video call, the doctors can visit the Taloja prison as soon as possible. The report will be presented before November 16, ”said the Superior Court.
A vacation bench of Judge AK Menon and Judge SP Tavade was listening to a letter from Rao’s wife, Pendyala Hemalatha, requesting his release from Taloja jail. The statement sparked complaints that prison authorities have not provided him with adequate medical care since 2018.
On October 29, the Supreme Court asked the HC to decide the guilty plea expeditiously. Referring to the “state of affairs” of Rao’s previous cases of hospitalization in Mumbai, his wife requested a statement from the HC that the authorities have violated the right to liberty and personal dignity under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. and the International Covenant on Civil Rights. , economic, social and cultural rights, recognized as human rights. Given this, she requested the release of her husband.
The statement also sought to transfer Rao to Nanavati Hospital and the appointment of a medical board of experts to assess his health.
On Thursday, lead attorney Indira Jaising, representing P Hemalatha, requested Rao’s transfer to the Nanavati Hospital and said: “He is bedridden, has dementia and has developed serious urinary conditions. If he is not removed, he will lose his life in prison. It will be a case of death in custody ”.
The NIA, in its affidavit, said that Rao’s health was “not good”, but doctors at Taloja jail regularly observed and checked his condition and provided him with all necessary treatment.
The court, thereafter, said that the issue before it at the current stage is the defendant’s medical condition and asked authorities, “What is the harm in allowing a video medical examination by the panel of doctors? of the Nanavati Hospital and avoid the difficulties related to the constitution of the medical board?
After hearing the presentations and with the consent of all parties, the court ordered the state government and the NIA to organize the video consultation of Rao by Nanavati doctors. The court also said that the consultation must take place on Thursday or in the first part of Friday and the report must be presented to the court before November 16. The HC also said that in case the doctors cannot determine Rao’s condition through a video call, they can visit the Taloja jail and evaluate him.
Seeking a report, the court published an additional hearing on November 17.
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