Bombay High Court has adjourned hearing the bail plea of 84-year-old Jesuit Father Stan Swamy to next month, forcing him to remain in prison despite his deteriorating health.
The state court of Maharashtra, which took up the bail plea on May 21, offered to send the priest to a government or private hospital in state capital Mumbai. The plea was filed on grounds of poor health.
However, the priest rejected the offer, saying his only request was for interim bail so that he could go home to Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
The priest used video conferencing to tell the court about his conditions in Taloja Central Jail in Mumbai city.
Father Swamy, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, hearing impairment and other age-related illnesses, was jailed on Oct. 9, a day after he was arrested at his home in Ranchi.
The priest said that when he arrived at the prison “whole systems of my body were very functional, but there has been a steady, slow regression of my bodily functions.”
So Taloja jail has brought me to a situation where I can neither write nor go for a walk by myself
“I would eat by myself, do some writing, walk, I could take a bath by myself, but all these are disappearing one after another,” he said.
“So Taloja jail has brought me to a situation where I can neither write nor go for a walk by myself. Someone has to feed me. In other words, I am requesting you to consider why and how this deterioration of myself happened.
“Only one thing that I would request the judiciary is to consider … interim bail. That is the only request.”
The court said it could not send him back to Jharkhand right now but could arrange for him to get treatment in a hospital.
“I don’t think it would make any difference. Whatever happens to me, I would like to be on my own,” Father Swamy said.
On May 19, when the priest’s bail application came up for hearing before the court, there were contradictory reports about his health. The court then ordered a heath check-up for the priest.
The court took the health report on record and directed prison authorities to follow its recommendations to ensure proper care of Father Swamy.
“The details of the health report are not released yet,” said Father A. Santhanam, a Jesuit priest who is following the case. “But we assume he has no Covid-19 infection as he not been taken into quarantine,” he said.
While adjourning the case to June 7, the court said Father Swamy has the liberty to approach it if he agrees to be hospitalized.
He is such a person. His first priority is always others
However, Father Swamy’s appeal seeking regular bail is still pending in the High Court, which is likely to come up for hearing in June.
“We are disappointed with the order,” said Father Santhanam.
During the hearing, Father Swamy tried to highlight the plight of other prisoners rather than himself, he said.
“He is such a person. His first priority is always others,” Father Santhanam said. “This is what he has been doing as a priest and a responsible citizen of the country.”
The National Investigation Agency, the federal anti-terror combat agency, arrested the priest on charges of sedition and links with outlawed Maoists. It linked him with a 2018 violent incident in a village in Maharashtra state.
He is among 16 activists linked to the same incident and accused of similar charges under the stringent non-bailable provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
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