Mumbai: The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that it will take jailed activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, for a medical check-up to the Tata Memorial Hospital in neighbouring Navi Mumbai on Friday.
The state's counsel, public prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde, made the statement before a bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar after Navlakha moved the HC earlier in the day, seeking directions to authorities of the Navi Mumbai-based Taloja prison, where he is currently lodged, to get him examined for a lump developed in his chest in March this year while in prison.
In his plea, Navlakha, 69, also sought that he be placed under house arrest as part of his judicial custody, owing to his advanced age and a host of medical ailments that he suffers from.
Navlakha cited the Supreme Court's order issued in May this year, whereby the apex court had dismissed his default bail plea, but found merit in treating house arrest as an alternative form of detention, especially for such undertrials who are aged or suffering from serious medical ailments.
In his plea, Navlakha also said that with 15 people accused in the case, the charge sheet spanning over 30,000 pages and over 150 witnesses to be examined, to continue to subject him to incarceration till the completion of the trial would be extremely "unjust, harsh, and cruel".
The activist said he had always cooperated with the probe into the case and that he was a fit candidate for house arrest.
Navlakha's counsels Yug Chaudhry and Payoshi Roy also told the HC that they had already written to the Taloja prison authorities seeking a medical check up for the lump in his chest, but were yet to hear anything from them.
They told the HC that Navlakha also suffered from hypertension that he developed while in prison, and several other ailments.
The activist in his plea claimed the Taloja prison was grossly inept at treating serious medical ailments suffered by inmates.
He also claimed the Taloja prison staff had been callous towards the health and other needs of inmates in the past.
The Taloja prison authorities had repeatedly acted in a "callous manner in the past, endangering the lives of the inmates, including the petitioner's co-accused in the case," Navlakha said in the plea.
"Because of the negligence and stubborn refusal of officials of the Taloja prison, the ailments and medical concerns of inmates go undiagnosed and untreated for long periods of time,", the plea said.
Read: Elgar Parishad case: NIA files charge sheet against 22 accused
Navlakha's counsel Chaudhry urged the HC to allow the activist to be examined at the Mumbai-based Jaslok Hospital, a private medical facility, where his sister was an employee.
Chaudhry said all expenses of the examination at the private hospital will be borne by Navlakha and his family.