He has spent 149 days in a hospital since last February: Jaising argues as Bombay High Court reserves order in Varavara Rao bail plea

The Bombay High Court on Monday reserved orders in the plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Dr. Varavara Rao for grant of bail on medical grounds..During today's hearing, the Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale was urged to allow Rao to go home to Hyderabad after imposing conditions..Senior Advocate Anand Grover, arguing for the release of Rao, said that his client's relatives have to take leave from their jobs and come to look after him, and thus it was better if he could be sent to Hyderabad..Justice Shinde, however, replied,"Inconvenience caused to the relatives would not be considered, only Rao's health will be considered by the Court for his release from detention."He also mused,"If the Court grants him on bail on medical grounds, then the other accused in the matter may also take undue advantage of such an order.".Justice Pitale also chimed in, saying that the trouble caused to Rao's relatives will no longer continue if Rao is sent to JJ Hospital, where he purportedly will be given a special room in the prison ward. Here, he can be monitored and his relatives can visit him..Grover then recalled Justice Pitale's hypothetical suggestion of releasing Rao from detention while keeping him within the jurisdiction of the trial court till the pendency of his trial..Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh reiterated his opposition to grant of bail to Rao, given the offences alleged against him..Justice Shinde then pointed out that considering there were 200 witnesses and that charges are not even framed, the trial may take a very long time to begin."Mr. Singh, the charges are not yet framed. Speedy trial is also part of fundamental rights", he said..Singh's prompt reply was,"Having more witnesses is no ground for bail. They do not have control over prisoners who are let out on bail.".The Court also enquired as to why there was nothing definitive on the question of whether Rao had dementia or not..Singh replied that since the none of the hospitals suggested that a check-up for dementia should be done, no such tests were ever conducted. He added that the last report clarified that Rao can be discharged and there were no issues which required indoor management..The Court, however, made it clear that it would consider all the medical reports filed before it and not just the first or the last one..The Bench also asked Grover to respond to the statement made by Chief Public Prosecutor Deepak Thakare agreeing to keep Rao in a special room of the prison ward of JJ government hospital where he will be given proper medical supervision..Grover's response was that with this statement, the State made it clear that keeping Rao in Taloja prison hospital was not a solution."So now the question is whether Hyderabad or JJ Hospital?".He suggested that the Court could consider granting him bail for a trial period of three months, with severe restrictions..Senior Advocate Indira Jaising made the following rejoinder submissions:Rao was an undertrial prisoner who had fundamental rights under Article 21 which included right to health.Rao's crime was a victimless crime and the charges against him were born out of some evidence found an a co-accused's computer.Keeping Rao in Hyderabad will reduce the burden on his care-givers and relatives..Jaising concluded her submissions by pointing out that Rao had spent 149 days in a hospital since last February, which showed just how critical his medical condition has been. Thus, he deserves to be released on medical grounds, she argued..While reserving the matter for orders, the Court extended the interim direction to keep Rao in Nanavati Hospital till the pronouncement of its verdict in the bail plea..[Read today's order here]