Provide prisoners with medical reports, says HC

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the state prison authorities to ensure that prisoners who have been taken to a hospital for a check-up should be given their medical reports, test results and medicines prescribed as it is their right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court further directed the prison authorities to also allow the prisoner to make a phone call to an approved family member after a visit to the hospital, outside the jail by following protocols.

The directions were issued while hearing a petition filed by

Maaysha Singh, the daughter of Elgar Parishad accused Sudha Bharadwaj. Singh had filed the petition seeking medical treatment for her mother who is lodged at Byculla Women’s prison and bail on medical grounds as she was not being provided medical attention and referral to a government hospital despite numerous requests.

Singh informed the bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice SP Tavade through advocate Yug Choudhary that after the petition was filed Bharadwaj had been taken to a hospital and was made to undergo several tests. Choudhary said that before filing the petition in HC, Singh and Bharadwaj had sent numerous requests to the prison authorities to refer Bharadwaj to a hospital outside the jail, however, the same was not heeded by the prison authorities till the petition was filed.

Choudhary submitted that after the petition was filed, Bharadwaj was taken to a hospital outside the jail, hence one of the requests in the petition had been satisfied. He added that he was not pressing the second request for bail on medical grounds. He said that he had two suggestions which, if the court would accept, would apply to thousands of prisoners and cut down on the number of petitions being filed in the HC. The first was to provide medical report and prescription of medicines to the prisoner as it was his/her right under Article 21 of the Constitution and the second, was to allow the prisoner to call an approved family member after hospital visit.

Additional solicitor-general Anil Singh did not oppose the suggestions by Choudhary but said the prisoner should be allowed to call the approved family member but not a lawyer.

Additional public prosecutor JP Yagnik for state prison authorities also did not oppose the suggestions. HC directed Byculla prison authorities to provide medical reports to Bharadwaj, and as Choudhary was not pressing for second plea of bail, it disposed of the petition.