(Photo: Altered by The Quint/Erum Gour)
Stating that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)-accused Atiq-ur Rehman “may die at any moment,” his father-in-law Shakhavat Kha moved the Allahabad High Court on Thursday, 18 November, seeking an urgent hearing and Rehman’s admission to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in Delhi.
He is presently lodged in the Mathura jail hospital. Rehman has also been book under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Shakhavat Kha has stated in the petition that Rehman has been detained in unlawful judicial custody since 5 October 2020, keeping him “deprived of proper care and medical facilities suited to his health situation, which has aggravated his medical condition to such extent that he may die at any moment.”
Timeline of Court Proceedings and Rehman’s Deteriorating Health
Rehman had fallen sick while he was being taken to the PMLA court for a hearing on 23 September this year. He was thereby taken to a community health centre, from where he was shifted to the district hospital in Agra and then to the SN Medical College. The doctors had thereby referred him to a higher centre (SGPGI, Lucknow or AIIMS, Delhi), but according to Times of India, authorities took him back to jail instead.
The Special Court PMLA, Lucknow had then called for a report regarding Rehman’s medical condition.
The Office of the Superintendent of Jail submitted the report on 11 October, which stated that Rehman had been advised surgical intervention (Bentall procedure) by experts from the AIIMS.
Following the PMLA court’s instructions on 12 October, the DG Prisons, Uttar Pradesh, issued an order for him to be taken to the AIIMS. The jail superintendent told Times of India,
“The order has been issued but its written copy is yet to be received. We will send him there as soon as we get the order, which should be by Thursday and Friday.”
What Does the Petition Say?
The petition says that Rehman, prior to his arrest while en route to Hathras, to meet the bereaved family of the gang rape victim, had somehow collected the money for his treatment and surgery as advised by the doctors and experts of the AIIMS.
The petition adds,
Moreover, it has been alleged that whenever Rehman complains of chest pains, he is given painkillers, which Rehman’s father-in-law has argued, is “a blatant and egregious violation of the fundamental rights of the Applicant guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India.”
Remembering Stan Swamy, whose death was termed as an institutional killing by many, Kha says in the petition,
Further requesting the court to admit him in the AIIMS or provide him bail considering his medical condition, the petition says that if the court “does not come to his aid immediately, to save his life, it might be too late, and he would be resigned to the harshest penalty of all, known to mankind, ie, the death penalty, without a trial.”
This story first appeared on thequint.com