The
Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the interim protection from surrender
to activist P. Varavara Rao in the Bhima Koregaon case till July 19.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested an adjournment in the matter before a bench headed by Justice U.U. Lalit.
Mehta
submitted before the bench that the matter should be kept for either
Wednesday or Thursday and added that protection may continue till then.
Senior advocate Anand Grover, representing Rao, said he would not come
in the way of Mehta's request. The bench said it would extend Rao's
protection, as it did not want him to be arrested for the reason that
the matter was not heard. It passed the order for extension of temporary
bail granted by the Bombay High Court.
Rao had moved the top
court challenging the Bombay High Court's order of April 13, which
declined his request to stay at his home in Telangana. However, the high
court extended the period of temporary bail for three months against
the backdrop of medical reasons.
The
top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on July 19. "At
the joint request of counsels appearing for the parties, list the matter
on July 19," said the bench.
In the plea, Rao submitted before
the top court that any further incarceration would ring the death knell
for him against the backdrop of his advancing age and deteriorating
health, which is a fatal combination.
