Poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in Bhima-Koregaon case, was discharged from Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai on Saturday. The 82-year-old was granted bail for six months by the Bombay High Court on medical grounds last month.
Rao was undergoing treatment at a private hospital where he was admitted by Maharashtra government following intervention from the High Court last year. He was admitted to the medical facility in November last year due to ill-health.
A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale had directed that he be released immediately on bail after being discharged from hospital.Rao was also asked to remain in Mumbai and be available for investigation whenever required.
The court has also asked Rao to not contact any of the co-accused and submit his passport before the National Investigation agency. The HC has also directed him to submit a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount.
Rao had later requested the court that he be allowed to furnish cash sureties until solvent sureties could be found.
After the six-month period, Rao will have to either surrender before the trial court or approach the High Court for extension of the bail period.
Following the release, Rao’s lawyer Indira Jaisingh posted a photo of the poet-activist on Twitter. She tweeted, Free at last ! Varavara Rao left Nanavati hospital at 11.45 pm, 6th March 2021.
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Varavaro Rao is an accused in Bhima-Koregaon case along with nine other activists. The police have alleged that the provocative speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune in December 2017 led to violence the next day. The case is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He has been in custody since August 2018 awaiting trial in the case.