Rao's bail hearing adjourned till Feb 3

The bench was dealing with application filed by Rao seeking bail on medical grounds

While hearing the bail plea of Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao, the Bombay High Court on Thursday said it will have to strike a balance between the fundamental rights and also the laws.

A bench of Justices Sambhaji Shinde and Manish Pitale stressed on the fact that Rao is of 82 years of age and if kept in prison at Taloja, who would take his proper care since already he has been shif ted to three different hospitals.

The bench was dealing with the application filed by Rao seeking bail on medical grounds. On Thursday, additional solicitor general Anil Singh told the judges that the Taloja jail authorities would take proper care of Rao and thus urged the judges to not grant him bail. The judges, however, pointed out the fresh report of the Nanavati hospital which stated that Rao's health has improved a lot. The bench further noted that that the Maharashtra government has said it would shif t Rao to JJ hospital for the time being since his health needs to be monitored.

"He was shif ted from jail to JJ hospital and then to St George and then to Nanavati. What is the apprehension if he is granted bail?" the bench questioned. "Why can't health be considered? What if we impose certain conditions on him?" the bench further asked. At this, ASG Singh argued that the judges should in fact not grant bail and impose conditions on the authorities to look after Rao. The bench has posted the matter for further hearing till February 3.