Overview

• On October 9, a special NIA court in Mumbai rejected the 85-year-old poet-activist’s plea to spend two months in Hyderabad for a dental procedure.
• The judge found no urgency in the medical papers and said a two-month stay outside Mumbai was too long for the stated treatment.
• The court pointed to adequate and low-cost options at municipal and charitable dental facilities in Mumbai.
• Prosecutors, including Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty, opposed the request, arguing suitable treatment is available locally.
• The order noted Rao’s bail bars him from leaving the trial court’s jurisdiction without permission, and the broader case has yet to go to trial.