The Bombay High Court on Monday granted interim bail for six months to poet-activist Varavara Rao on medical grounds. Rao is one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), is currently undergoing treatment in the Mumbai-based Nanavati Hospital where he had been admitted by the Maharashtra government following the high court's intervention.

Rao has been in custody since August 28, 2018, awaiting trial in the case. Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale bench ordered that Rao be discharged from the hospital, depending on his current health condition, and released on bail immediately after his discharge.

The HC said if it did not grant Rao medical bail, it would be abdicating its duty to protect the principles of human rights and a citizen's fundamental rights to life and health. The bench also imposed stringent conditions in Rao's bail, including a direction to him to stay within the jurisdiction of the Mumbai NIA court for the period he is out on bail.

Rao will have to submit his passport before the NIA court, and he has been forbidden to establish any contact with his co-accused in the case. He will also have to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the like amount.

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