Varavara Rao was shifted to Nanavati hospital on July 19 for neurological and urological treatment.THE BOMBAY High Court, which is hearing a petition filed by Telugu poet Varavara Rao’s wife seeking to shift him to a hospital from Taloja jail, directed the state government on Tuesday to submit details about his medical examination.
Rao’s lawyer, senior advocate Indira Jaisingh, informed the court that the authorities had sent a one-page report via WhatsApp hours before the hearing of the tele-consultation done by doctors.
“This report will have to be read in conjunction with the earlier report by Nanavati Hospital where he was admitted. It makes no mention of his (Rao’s) co-morbidities and was submitted through examining him for barely 15 minutes through a teleconsultation. There is no report by a neurologist though he is suffering from dementia or a urologist. This is nothing but delay tactics and the report is a complete eyewash,” Jaisingh submitted to the division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Madhav Jamdar.
Last week, a vacation bench, while hearing a plea filed by P Hemlatha, Rao’s wife, had directed the NIA and Taloja jail authorities to permit his medical examination, preferably by doctors at Nanavati Hospital who had treated him earlier.
The plea has raised grievances that he is not being given proper medical attention in jail and seeks to shift him to Nanavati Hospital where he underwent treatment after he tested positive for Covid-19.
The HC deferred the hearing to Wednesday due to technical difficulties in the virtual hearing. Jaisingh will be appearing before the HC for a physical hearing on Wednesday. A bail application has also been filed on medical grounds on behalf of Rao.