The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to poet and activist P Varavara Rao on medical grounds in the Bhima-Koregaon case. A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said he shall not misuse the liberty in any manner while granting bail to Varavara Rao. Varavara Rao, who had challenged the Bombay High Court's April 13 order rejecting his plea for permanent bail on medical
Poet-Activist Varavara Rao, 81, Granted Bail In Bhima Koregaon Case Bhima Koregaon Case: The Bombay HighmCourt said if it did not grant Varavara Rao medical bail, it would be abdicating its duty to protect the principles of human rights, and a citizen s fundamental rights to life and health.
Updated: February 22, 2021 12:43 pm IST
Bhima Koregaon Case: Varavara Rao has been asked to remain in Mumbai and be available for investigation
Mumbai:
Varavara Rao, the 81-year-old poet-activist who has been in jail for over two years in the Koregaon-Bhima case, was granted bail for six months by the Bombay High Court today on medical grounds.
Police investigation into the incident led to the arrest of several activists who they alleged had Maoist links . The police alleged that they funded the Elgar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, where inflammatory speeches were made, according to police, leading to the violence. Those arrested on August 28, 2019, included writer and poet Varavara Rao, lawyer and activist Sudha Bhardwaj, academic and activist Vernon Gonsalves, and human rights activists Arun Ferreira and Gautam Navlakha. A small village in Pune district of Maharashtra, Bhima-Koregaon is associated with an important phase of Maratha history. On January 1, 1818, a Dalit-dominated British Army had defeated a Peshwa army, led by Peshwa Bajirao II, in Koregaon.