Framing of charges in the Elgar Parishad case will get delayed if Varavara Rao is allowed to travel to Hyderabad for cataract surgery, a National Investigation Agency court has said while denying permission to the activist, Live Law reported.
Rao was denied permission to travel by the court on Friday. A detailed order was made available on Monday.
The 83-year-old is among 15 persons who have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly conspiring to set off caste violence in the Bhima Koregaon village near Pune in 2018. He was arrested on August 28 that year from his home in Hyderabad.
On August 10, the Supreme Court granted him bail on medical grounds on conditions that the activist should stay in Mumbai and not leave the metropolis without the permission of the National Investigation Agency court.
The Supreme Court had also directed the special NIA court to decide on the framing of charges against Rao within three months.
On Friday, Rao had approached the special NIA court seeking permission to go to Hyderabad for three months for cataract surgery and post-surgical care. He told the court that he has cataracts in both eyes and the condition requires surgery.
Rao also submitted that he would find free-of-cost treatment in Hyderabad as he is a pensioner of the Telangana government, according to The Indian Express.
However, his arguments were rejected by Special Judge RN Rokade.
In Monday’s order, the court said that Rao’s primary ground to avail treatment in Hyderabad was the difference in the cost. “It is not the case of the applicant that he would not get good treatment at Mumbai,” the judge said, according to Live Law.
The Elgar Parishad event took place in Pune on December 31, 2017, a day before violent clashes broke out between Maratha and Dalit groups near the Bhima Koregaon village in Maharashtra. Sixteen people were arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.
The National Investigation Agency has alleged that the event was part of a larger Maoist conspiracy to stoke caste violence, destabilise the central government and assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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