Bhima Koregaon Case : Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Varavara Rao's Plea To Modify Bail Condition Requiring Him To Be In Mumbai

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea to modify the medical bail condition imposed on 85-yr old P Varavara Rao, accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in the Bhima Koregaon case, which requires him to seek prior permission from the Trial Court if he wishes to leave the Greater Mumbai area.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi dismissed as withdrawn Rao's plea after hearing Senior Advocate Anand Grover.

Grover submitted that Rao has been on bail for 4 years but his health is deteriorating. Earlier, his wife used to take care of him but she has shifted to Hyderabad, and as such, there is no one to look after him. "Today also, he fell from dizziness", the senior counsel said.

Grover further pointed out that Rao has a pension of Rs.50,000 but has to spend Rs.76,000 per month. In Telangana, he gets free health services, but in Greater Mumbai, he has to spend money on health facilities every time.

Unconvinced, Justice Maheshwari said, "Government will take care of his health...otherwise go to the same Court, we are not interested".

Notably, Grover also informed that the proceedings in the case are at Section 207 CrPC stage and the trial is not likely to be completed anytime soon. He also requested that Rao may be allowed to make the application at a later stage. But the Court refused to record any such thing in the order. Ultimately, the plea was dismissed as withdrawn.

To recap, in August 2022, a bench comprising Justices UU Lalit, Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia had granted bail to Rao on medical grounds, taking into account his age, medical conditions and also the 2.5 year period of actual custody spent by him.

Further, the bench had noted that trial had not begun in the case and even charges had not been framed although chargesheet had been filed. It was ordered that Rao should not leave the area of Greater Mumbai without express permission from the Special NIA Court at Mumbai and that he shall not in anyway misuse his liberty nor shall he get in touch with any of the witnesses or try to influence the course of investigation.

Rao shall be entitled to medical attention of his choice, but shall keep the NIA authorities in touch with any such developments, including the medical attention received by him, the Court said.

It was clarified that the bail had been granted solely on medical grounds and shall not be taken as a reflection on the merits of the matter.

Recently, an application was filed seeking modification of condition imposed in para 18(b)(i) of the bail order, which provided that Rao shall not leave the area of Greater Mumbai without the express permission from the Trial Court. Today, the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea to modify the said condition.

Case Title: P. VARAVARA RAO AND ANR. Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ANR., MA 1675-1676/2025 in Crl.A. No. 1206/2022

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