Sudha Bharadwaj had requested bail after an inmate tested positive for coronavirus. (FILE)
Bombay:
Authorities at Byculla Prison told the Bombay High Court that while lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, a defendant in the Elgar Parishad case, is diabetic and suffers from heart disease, her vital signs are normal.
According to the prison report submitted Monday, Ms. Bharadwaj is “diabetic and suffers from ischemic disease”, a heart disease.
Ms Bharadwaj went to the High Court to seek bail for health reasons after a special court rejected the same decision on May 29.
She had applied for bail after an inmate at Byculla Women’s Prison tested positive for coronavirus earlier this year.
Last month, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed an affidavit in the High Court opposing Ms Bharadwaj’s request for bail.
He said Ms Bharadwaj, 58, was taking “an unfair advantage” of the pandemic and her pleadings over her co-morbidities and therefore being a high-risk candidate for COVID-19 was a mere “trick” to seek bail .
He said the lawyer would receive adequate medical help in the prison if needed.
Ms Bharadwaj’s request for bail was due to be heard on Thursday by a bench led by Judge S S Shindeon, but could not be granted due to lack of time.
The same bench was also to hear the plea of provisional release of Ms. Bharadwaj’s co-accused in the case, the poet Varavara Rao. However, even this could not be resumed due to lack of time.
On Monday, a bench led by Judge S S Shinde asked the state and the NIA to clarify whether Mr. Rao’s family could be allowed to see him. It was then that the court heard an application for interim release filed by Mr. Rao asking for release on medical bail.
Mr. Rao was transferred from Taloja Prison to a hospital after his health deteriorated last week.
