Hyderabad: Expressing concern over the health of poet P. Varavara Rao, who is lodged at the Yervada central prison in Pune, his wife, and family members demanded that Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao intervene and direct the government to provide basic amenities to him.
Varavara Rao, 79, was arrested on November 17 last for alleged conspiracy to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to the media on Friday, his wife P. Hemalatha said, “He is not given minimum facilities at the Yervada central prison in Pune. He wrote a letter to the Maharashtra Governor in the third week of June, to look into the acts of the state government against him and eight others by framing in several cases for raising voice against the government. No response has been received.”
Ms Hemalatha demanded that the Governor intervene under Article 161 of the Constitution and provide Varavara Rao basic amenities like a chair, table, stationery to write and an extra blanket.
“He was given a fan during the summer but its switch was fixed outside the barracks. This was how he was treated,” said Mr Venugopal Rao, nephew of Varavara Rao.
Prof. Haragopal quoted Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer to say, “Bail is a rule and jail is an exception.
Since the registration of the case, the court has heard the case for 60 times and but there was no mention of providing bail to the accused.”
