The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday granted bail to activist and poet Varavara Rao, 82, on medical grounds, restricting his travel beyond Maharashtra.
In February 2021, the Bombay High Court granted him bail on medical grounds and in April this year, the Telugu poet moved to seeking a permanent bail application on "advancing age and deteriorating health," which the court rejected at the time.
The apex court refused to grant him permanent medical bail as well, and only gave bail until further order.
"The trial will take at least ten years, even if it starts today and there are 16 accused," Rao's lawyer Anand Grover submitted. In his plea submitted to the Supreme Court, Rao said that he "suffers from neurological ailments, abdomen pain which could be due to umbilical hernia, and asymptomatic Parkinson's disease."
His lawyer reportedly complained that they want Rao to "die in jail like Stan Swamy." Tribal activist Swamy, who was arrested in the same case, died of a cardiac arrest in hospital earlier.
He was allegedly denied access to basic amenities such as straw and sipper, which he needed to drink water because of hand tremors caused by Parkinson's.