Family of ailing poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, welcomed the Bombay High Court granting interim bail to him on Monday. However, they maintained that the conditions put forth by the court were difficult to be met.
“We welcome this order. But it is only a small relief. The conditions put by the court are difficult to be met. In the light of revelation on the evidence, the case itself should be quashed,” Varavara Rao’s nephew N Venu Gopal told PTI.
Venugopal said their lawyers are on the job of getting necessary documentation for Rao’s release on bail.
The bench granted interim bail to Rao for six months on medical grounds, while directing him to stay within the jurisdiction of the NIA court in the city during this period.
The court imposed a host of stringent conditions on his bail, including prohibiting him from establishing contact with co-accused in the case.
It directed Rao to stay in Mumbai while on bail, make fortnightly WhatsApp video calls to the nearest Mumbai police station, and prohibited large gatherings or large group of visitors from meeting him while he is out on bail.
