Court directs Tihar authorities to provide treatment at AIIMS to Bhim army chief

A Delhi court Thursday pulled up Tihar jail authorities for acting in a "callous manner" by flouting laws that safeguard a prisoner's right and asked them to provide treatment to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad who was arrested in connection with violence during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest in Daryaganj here. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arul Verma directed the jail authorities to ensure that Azad is treated for polycythemia, a disorder of blood thickness, and taken to AIIMS, Delhi.

"Since the doctors from AIIMS have reported that the accused (Azad) is suffering from Polycythemia and the fact that the accused has been getting treatment from AIIMS for the last one year, this court hereby directs the concerned jail superintendent of Tihar jail to ensure that the accused is treated for Polycythemia and be given Therapeutic Phlebotomy, and for that purpose he be taken for treatment at AIIMS, Delhi, where his treatment is already going on," the court said. It further said that despite knowing Azad's condition, he was given ordinary medical care and not the treatment needed to address his ailment.

"It is explicit that the accused came to the Jail dispensary and stated that he was a patient of polycythemia. However, he was not given treatment for the same, that is he ought to have been administered not ordinary medical aid but the treatment that would address his peculiar ailment. This was not done so by the concerned jail authorities. "The authorities have acted in a callous manner and have seemingly flouted the law that zealously safeguarded the rights of the citizens, even prisoners," the court said.

During the hearing, the investigating officer of the crime branch of Delhi Police submitted a report wherein it was stated that Azad needed to undergo further evaluation to determine the cause for his polycythemia. The Tihar jail doctor said he was not a hematologist and he was not aware till Wednesday that Azad suffered from polycythemia.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for Azad, told the court that his symptoms showed accentuation of the disease and he required phlebotomy as the treatment, which the Jail authorities were not aware of. Advocate O P Bharti, also appearing for Azad, said that the jail authorities did not take requisite action and was treated like a hardcore criminal.

"He had watery eyes and itching and then conjunctivitis. All these are signs of deterioration of his disease. But the jail authorities only treated him for conjunctivitis instead of the underlying disease. He was not given the adequate and requisite treatment... He is not a hardcore criminal. He is just a political prisoner. "The jail authorities are putting him in harms way. It is a conspiracy. Let he be sent to AIIMS for treatment. He had itching and disturbed sleep, so the jail authorities suggested he be taken to a psychiatrist. This is either ignorance or deliberation,"said Pracha.

In a brief hearing on Wednesday, the jail authorities had sought time to file Azad's medical report in response to his application seeking treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital, said advocate Pracha. The application claimed that Azad was suffering from polycythemia and "requires continuous checkup from the doctors concerned from AIIMS, who are supervising his treatment for a long time".

If the treatment was not provided urgently to Azad, it might lead to cardiac arrest, the application stated. The Bhim Army chief was sent to judicial custody on December 21 by a Delhi court.

Azad's outfit had organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the amended Citizenship Act on December 20, without police permission.