The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to shift jailed journalist Siddique Kappan to any government hospital in Delhi from Mathura for better treatment, days after his wife had written to the Chief Justice of India alleging that her husband had been chained to his bed “like an animal”.
Wednesday’s hearing witnessed sharp exchanges between a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government. While the lawyer cited the hospital bed crisis in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the court said it would intervene as it had been informed Kappan was unwell.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the UP government to shift journalist Siddique Kappan, in custody since October 5 for alleged links with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and accused of going to Hathras purportedly to create disharmony in the aftermath of the death of a girl who was gangraped, from Mathura jail to a Delhi hospital for treatment.
This direction was met with disapproval and resistance from UP government, which through solicitor general Tushar Mehta said all hospitals in Delhi were full of Covid patients and admitting Kappan, a 42-year-old non-Covid inmate accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, to a Delhi hospital would result in asking a Covid patient, who could be a senior citizen, to vacate her bed. “I can’t request any hospital to do such a thing,” the SG said.
SC asks UP govt to shift scribe Kappan to Delhi govt hospital
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Kappan had tested positive for Covid-19 in an antigen test but has since tested negative in an RTPCR test, solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the court on behalf of the UP government.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Uttar Pradesh to shift Kerala journalist Siddiqui Kappan to a government hospital in Delhi for treatment. The court has given this direction overruling vehement opposition from the UP government, which claimed that he was being taken care of and that the state cannot throw out Covid-positive patients from a hospital to make way for the admission of a Covid-negative person.
SC says right to life embraces even undertrial, orders shifting of Kappan to Delhi for treatment
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SC says right to life embraces even undertrial, orders shifting of Kappan to Delhi for treatmentPTI
Last Updated: Apr 29, 2021, 02:27 PM IST
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Synopsis It would be in the interest of justice to shift Siddique Kappan - the arrestee, either to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital or to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) or any other Government Hospital in Delhi for the proper medical treatment. The needful shall in this regard be done at the earliest, the bench said in its order uploaded last Wednesday night.