Mahesh Raut moves Bombay High Court for permission to travel to Kerala for Ayurvedic treatment

Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case of 2018, has moved the Bombay High Court after a special court rejected his plea to travel to Kerala for Ayurvedic treatment in January 2026. [Mahesh Raut v. NIA & Ors.]

Raut had approached the special NIA court in Mumbai seeking  permission to travel to Poonthottam Ayurvedasram in Kerala between January 29 and February 7 for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren’s syndrome.

He sought relaxation of his bail conditions to undertake the out‑of‑state travel. 

NIA opposed the application stating that Raut’s medical certificates were vague and the efficacy of the proposed treatment was unclear and unsubstantiated.

It also highlighted the stringent conditions imposed by the High Court while granting bail, including a condition to stay within the jurisdictional limits of the High Court. 

The special court noted that previous temporary liberties granted to Raut  to attend law examinations at Siddharth College of Law in Mumbai's Fort and to reside in Thane on medical grounds kept him within Mumbai and its vicinity, unlike the present request to travel to Kerala. 

The special court recorded that Raut’s ailments were supported by medical records, but accepted NIA’s submission that almost everything is available in Mumbai for medical treatment with patients coming into the city from outside for ‘medical tourism’.

On January 21, the special judge rejected Raut’s plea on the grounds that permitting the accused to travel to Kerala would amount to flouting the High Court’s direction. 

Aggrieved by the order, Raut has now approached the High Court. 

Raut was arrested in 2018 by the Pune police and continued to remain in custody till September 2025 when he was granted temporary bail of 6 weeks on medical grounds by the Supreme Court after noting that he was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and would need specialised treatment.

He was earlier granted regular bail by the Bombay High Court in September 2023 but the order was stayed for a week by the court when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought time to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court. That stay was subsequently extended.

The Supreme Court later granted him interim medical bail in September 2025 after taking note of his ailments. He has continued to remain on bail since then.