SC to hear Varavara Rao's permanent medical bail plea on July 19

The Supreme Court will hear on July 19 a plea by P Varavara Rao, one of those accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, challenging the Bombay High Court order rejecting his appeal for permanent medical bail.

A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit on Tuesday also extended Rao's interim protection. The 83-year-old is currently on bail on medical grounds and had to surrender today.

''At the joint request made by the counsel appearing for the parties, this matter is posted as the first item on July 19,'' the bench said.

"The interim protection enjoyed by the petitioner shall continue… till further orders,'' it said.