The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, 19 May, permitted Hany Babu, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to be shifted to the private Breach Candy Hospital for medical treatment.
Babu’s counsel had sought an urgent hearing, stating that Babu had
developed an eye infection due to Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, after contracting the novel coronavirus.
The court directed that Babu be shifted on Thursday under police protection, and that charges for his treatment and medicines prescribed will be borne by his family.
The Delhi University Associate Professor tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month and is currently undergoing treatment at the state-run GT Hospital in Mumbai.
COVID Associated Mucormycosis (CAM) is a rare but serious infection that has been found in several COVID-19 patients who are diabetic and have received steroids. The condition has been associated with high morbidity and mortality.
Last week, authorities of the Taloja prison had brought him to the J J Hospital and he was then shifted to the GT Hospital, where he was seeking treatment but was not being treated for the eye infection.
The bench had summoned the GT Hospital’s Dean Dr BG Chikhalkar via video-conferencing, who assured that Babu was being provided adequate treatment, reported PTI.
Babu then spoke saying he was satisfied with the treatment. The hospital authorities told the HC that they were not equipped to carry out specialised tests that had been recommended for Babu by the JJ Hospital.
The NIA’s counsel opposed it and said the city-based hospitals were equipped and this will become a precedent and all prisoners will want to be shifted to private hospitals.
‘He Is in Agonising Pain:’ Babu’s Family
Babu's wife Jenny Rowena had said in a press conference last week that the prison authorities and the NIA were not sharing information on his health condition.
“He has little or no vision in his left eye due to the swelling, which has spread to the cheek, ear and forehead, compromising other vital organs as well, and posing a significant risk to his life if it spreads to the brain,” read the statement by Babu’s family.
Further, his family’s statement had read: “He is in agonising pain and is unable to sleep or perform daily chores. Due to an acute water shortage in the prison, he does not have access to clean water to even bathe his eye and is forced to dress his eye with soiled towels.”
The family had said that the swelling in his left eye started on 3 May, which led to double vision and severe pain.
Babu was arrested in July 2020. He is among the many activists who were booked in the Elgar Parishad case that relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on 31 December 2017, which triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.
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