SC TO CBI: VERIFY SAJJAN’S MEDICAL CONDITION
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to verify the medical condition of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is serving life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and is seeking interim bail on health grounds.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the CBI on Kumar’s plea.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to verify the medical condition of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is serving life imprisonment in a 1984 antiSikh riots case and is seeking interim bail on health grounds.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the CBI on Kumar’s plea and asked it to file an affidavit within a week after verifying his medical condition.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the ex-MP, said Kumar should be taken to a private hospital for treatment as his condition had not been determined at a government hospital here.
“We want the state to verify what his medical condition is,” the bench observed. Singh said Kumar was earlier treated by a doctor at a private hospital and he could be treated there.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the complainant, said that Kumar had got anticipatory bail from the high court in 2010 and he was sent to jail only after he was convicted by the high court. “This is shocking,” he told the bench, adding that people were slaughtered during the riots.
“I have serious reservation about private hospitals and these powerful accused,” Dave said, adding that the apex court had in September last year dismissed Kumar’s plea seeking interim bail on health grounds.
When Singh said that Kumar
THE FORMER CONGRESS LEADER SERVING LIFE TERM IN AN ANTISIKH RIOTS CASE, IS SEEKING INTERIM BAIL ON HEALTH GROUNDS
is in a “very precarious condition”, Dave said in March last year, he was examined by an AIIMS board. They all get into precarious condition after slaughtering people, Dave said.
“This is a precarious condition itself that he is in jail. That itself is a precarious condition,” the bench observed.
As Singh said irresponsible statements should not be made, Dave argued “it is not irresponsible, it is a serious matter”.
Singh said he had not argued anything on merits. “The medical condition of the petitioner should be verified and affidavit be filed within a week,” the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on September 6.
Kumar is serving life imprisonment after the Delhi high court convicted him and others in the case in December 2018.