Varavara Rao to be shifted to Mumbai's Nanavati hospital

New Delhi, Nov 18: Jailed poet-activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, will be shifted to Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital for 15 days, the Bombay High Court said today.

"He (Varavara Rao) is completely bed-ridden, and has no medical attendant. He is in duiapers and has a catheter. The catheter was not changed for three months, as there was no one to change it," senior lawyer Indira Jaising said.

"I am alleging negligence on the part of the state. If the state is unable to look after him, he needs to be shifted to Nanavati Hospital", she added.

Rao, 81, is currently lodged as an under-trial in the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

Rao had filed a bail application and a writ petition seeking he be shifted to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai immediately, owing to his "diminishing neurological and physical health condition".

Since his arrest in June 2018, Rao has been in and out of the government-run JJ hospital in the city. On July 16, he tested positive for coronavirus, after which he was shifted to the Nanavati hospital. He was discharged on July 30 and sent back to the Taloja prison.