The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to poet and activist P Varavara Rao on health grounds in the Bhima-Koregaon case. While granting bail to the 82-year-old man, the court headed by Justice U U Lalit said that he would not abuse his freedom in any way. Rao, who challenged the Bombay High Court’s April 13 order rejecting his permanent bail application on health grounds, is currently on interim bail.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police said sparked violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. The Pune police also claimed that the conclave was organized by people with alleged Maoist links. The investigation into the matter was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Rao was arrested on 28 August 2018 from his residence in Hyderabad and is being investigated in the case. The Pune Police filed an FIR on 8 January 2018 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.