Sudha Bharadwaj (File) The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed state prison authorities to give a report on the health condition of activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, by May 17.
A Division Bench of Justice KK Tated and Justice Abhay Ahuja was hearing a plea filed by Bharadwaj’s daughter Maaysha Singh seeking interim medical bail for her mother.
Bharadwaj, who is lodged in Byculla women’s prison, will be taken to state-run JJ Hospital for health check-up today (Thursday).
Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry for the petitioner submitted that Bharadwaj is in a prison ward with 50 other women, “incarcerated in extremely unsanitary conditions without any possibility of physical distancing”.
He submitted that Bharadwaj suffers from comorbidities and there are issues about crowding in prison and treatment meted out to inmates.
Additional J P Yagnik for the state prison authority submitted that they are taking Bharadwaj to J J Hospital today (Thursday) for medical examination and will submit a report within a week.
Advocate Sandesh Patil for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the probing agency in Elgaar Parishad case, said that there was no urgency in the matter and it would be unable to file reply within a week due to pandemic situation.
“We understand that officers are working at 15 % capacity, let us see the medical report first,” the bench said.
The Court directed the prison authority to file a report of medical examination by May 17. It said it will hear the plea next on May 21.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
