Ex-Information Commissioners Urge Uddhav Thackeray to release Varavara Rao

Hyderabad, May 31 (Maxim News): Former Central Information Commissioners Shailesh Gandhi and Prof M Sridhar Acharyulu today appealed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thakarey to take steps for the release of famous human rights activist P. Varavara Rao, who is suffering from serious illness 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-year-old and was a renowned Telugu Poet, Journalist and Lecturer. They said that Rao had been languishing in judicial custody for the last 18 months in Bhima Koregaon case for an alleged attempt to murder the Prime Minister Modi. The two prominent intellectuals told the CM that the Pune Police and State Investigation Teams had investigated the case for around 16 weeks and could not collect even an iota of evidence to prove the wild charge that this 80-year-old man from Hyderabad had conspired or attempted to murder Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Maharashtra Government under the leadership Thackeray based on the investigation stated that there was no evidence against Varavara Rao and others in this case and also declared that very soon they would close the file, they noted. They further said that the National Investigation Authority (NIA)’s decision to take over the investigation into its hands stalled the release of Varavara Rao on bail and added that no progress in investigation against Varavara Rao was reported by NIA also so far.

Talking about Constitutional position they said that the subject of ‘Law and order’ was in the State List as per the distribution of powers under Indian Constitution, which cannot be taken away by the Centre without any such request from the State or by the Court. “The usurping of the case will also mean usurping of the power of the State, which is against the equal sovereignty of States and thus 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.

Talking about legal position, they said that It was a well-established principal of criminal justice that the accused shall be presumed innocent until the charge is proved beyond reasonable doubt. “Because of lack of evidence, Varavara Rao has every right to be acquitted as not guilty. Only awaited legal formality is the final judgment of acquittal by court. The length of waiting for final judgment is not known. The burden of proof of his guilt is totally on the shoulders of state, which has every authority to discharge when truth of his non-involvement in such alleged attempt was established. The State police tried its best in probing the allegations but what can anybody do when the allegation was 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 said. (Maxim News)