Right to life unconditionally embraces undertrials: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ruled that an undertrial prisoner’s right to life does not diminish even a wee bit when in jail as an accused for an offence and said such a person’s health concerns have to be taken care of by the state and, if not done so, by the judiciary.
This ruling was handed down by a bench of CJI N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and A S Bopanna directing the Uttar Pradesh government to shift arrested journalist Siddique Kappan to a government hospital in Delhi. The UP government had opposed the move tooth and nail saying admitting Kappan to any of Delhi’s hospitals, all of which are overflowing with Covid patients, would result in denying facilities to a critical Covid patient.
The ruling expands the SC’s 2019 judgment in ‘X vs Maharashtra’ case in which it had said: “The right to dignity of an accused does not dry out with the judges’ ink, rather, it subsists beyond the prison gates and operates until his last breath.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had argued that adequate medical treatment is being provided to Kappan as in the case of all other jail inmates and, if need be, further facilities shall be extended to him.
The bench took note of grave apprehensions raised by Kerala Union of Working Journalists and Kappan’s wife about the deteriorating health of the accused and said, “The most precious fundamental ‘right to life’ unconditionally embraces even an undertrial. The consideration made herein is keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case. Merely because the other jail inmates are receiving treatment similar to the arrestee need not deter us”.
“...Owing to the apparent precarious health condition of the arrestee, it is necessary to provide adequate and effective medical assistance to him and allay all apprehensions relating to his health. It would be in the interest of justice to shift Kappan either to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital or AIIMS or any other government hospital in Delhi,” the bench said.
The bench said, “As soon as Kappan recovers and doctors certify him fit to be discharged, he would be shifted back to Mathura jail”.