Two Former CICs Request Maharashtra CM To Release Varavara Rao

Former Central Information Commissioners Shailesh Gandhi and M Sridhar Acharyulu today appealed to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackarey to take steps to release human rights activist P Varavara Rao, who is reportedly seriously ill, from a Mumbai jail.

They wrote an open letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister on the issue.

In their letter, they told the CM that Rao was 80 years old, and a renowned Telugu poet, journalist and lecturer, who had been languishing in judicial custody for the last 18 months in the Bhima-Koregaon case for an alleged attempt to murder Prime Minister Modi. However, the Pune police and the state investigation teams could not collect even an iota of evidence in 16 weeks of investigating the case to prove the charge. And the Maharashtra government, based on the investigation, had stated that there was no evidence against Rao and others in the case, and had also declared that very soon they would close the file.

However, the National Investigation Authority (NIA) decision to take over the investigation had stalled the release of Rao on bail. And no progress in the investigation had been reported by the NIA so far, either, the two former CICs claimed.

They said that the subject of "law and order" was in the State List as per the distribution of powers under the Indian Constitution, and it could not be taken away by the Centre without any such request from the State or by a court.

"The usurping of the case will also mean usurping of the power of Maharashtra, which violates federalism. Constitutionally and practically speaking the state of Maharashtra is more eligible and equipped to deal with this local case, rather than any central investigation agency," they said.

They also said that it was a well-established principle of criminal justice that an accused should be presumed innocent until the charge was proved beyond reasonable doubt. "Because of lack of evidence, Varavara Rao has every right to be acquitted as not guilty. The only awaited legal formality is the final judgment of acquittal by a court. The length of waiting for the final judgment is not known. The burden of proof of his guilt is totally on the shoulders of the State, which has every authority to discharge when the truth of his non-involvement in such alleged attempt is established. The State police tried its best in probing the allegations but what can anybody do when the allegation is not true? And because of that any amount of investigation may not yield any piece of evidence. In such an event, Varavara Rao deserves at least release on bail, on the above-mentioned strength of legal position," they added.