Prisoners don't cease to be humans, move terminally ill accused to hospice: HC

Saying that prison inmates do not cease to be human beings and cant be deprived of the fundamental right to life the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to transfer alleged Maoist leader Nirmala Uppuganti from jail to a hospice for palliative care on account of her terminal cancerUppuganti an accused in the 2019 Gadchiroli IED blast case had filed a plea through senior counsel Yug Chaudhry and advocate Payoshi Roy asking to be shifted to a hospice for palliative care so that she was properly taken care of during her final daysA bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar directed the state prison authorities to shift Uppuganti from the Byculla womens prison in Mumbai to a hospice by September 15The states counsel Sangeeta Shinde however had opposed Uppugantis pleaThe state counsel told the HC Uppuganti was accused of a serious offence and was able to move on her own and had been provided the help of two other inmates to take care of her in prisonAlso Read Clear Fr Stan Swamyrsquos name in Elgar case Lawyer to Bombay High CourtThe government counsel said as per the advice of Uppugantis doctors the prison authorities were taking her to the Tata Memorial Centre a cancer hospital in Mumbai three times a week for treatmentIn its order on Thursday the HC however said though Uppuganti was accused of a serious offence and charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA refusing her palliative care would breach her fundamental right to protection of life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the ConstitutionIt is trite that the right to life guaranteed to every person by Article 21 of the Constitution is a basic postulate of human right A prisoner be he a convict or undertrial or a detenu does not cease to be a human being and even when lodged in the jail he is not deprived of his right to life guaranteed to him under Article 21 of the Constitution which includes the right to obtain medical treatment the HC observedA prisoner cannot be deprived of health services as it would violate the guarantee conferred under Article 21 of the Constitution of India the bench saidThe HC took note of Uppugantis medical reports that showed that she had metastatic cancer in advanced stage that had spread to multiple organsIt said while Uppuganti was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy at such advanced stage of cancer palliative care seemed indispensable to minimise her pain and sufferingThe petitioner has a legitimate right to expect palliative care and nursing the HC said while directing the jail authorities to transfer Uppuganti from prison to the Shanti Avedna Sadan hospice centre in the city for 12 weeksThe court directed that the prison authorities must coordinate with the hospice centre and the Tata Memorial Centre to ensure Uppuganti continued receiving her ongoing medical treatmentThe HC directed the state authorities to transfer Uppuganti to the hospice by September 15 and to provide her with necessary police escort thereIt also permitted Uppuganti to have telephonic access to her husband Satyanarayan Rani her coaccused in the case who is currently lodged in the Arthur Road Central Prison in MumbaiUppuganti is an accused in the case related to the IED improvised explosive device attack carried out by Naxals in Gadchiroli district of eastern Maharashtra on May 1 2019 As many as 15 security personnel from the Gadchiroli Quick Response Team and one civilian were killed in the deadly explosionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever