A division bench of Justice Prasanna Varale and Surendra Tavade heard the plea last week argued by lawyer Gayatri Singh, representing Bhelke.(File) OVER A year after the death of 37-year-old Kanchan Nanavare, booked by the Maharashtra ATS in connection with a Maoist case, her husband has approached the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh judicial inquiry, stating her death was caused due to negligence by jail authorities and lack of proper medical care. The petition filed by her husband and co-accused Arun Bhelke states that the then jail superintendent of Yerwada jail had signed a consent form for a “risky” medical surgery to be conducted on Nanavare without informing him.
A division bench of Justice Prasanna Varale and Surendra Tavade heard the plea last week argued by lawyer Gayatri Singh, representing Bhelke. The court has issued notice to the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) and the Jail superintendent of Yerwada Central Prison in the regard and is likely to hear the matter later this month.
Nanavare was an undertrial lodged in the Yerwada women’s prison after being arrested by the ATS in 2014 on charges of being a member of CPI (Maoist) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code related to cheating and forgery after it was claimed that a fake Aadhaar card was found on her during a search.
She was at the jail since September 26, 2014 till her death on January 24, 2021. Nanavare was suffering from congenital heart disease and had undergone two heart surgeries in 1996 and 2013.
- 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.
