Activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and lodged at the Taloja Central Jail, urged the Bombay High Court on Thursday to shift him to house arrest owing to a lump in his chest.
A Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar was hearing a plea filed by Mr. Navlakha through advocate Yug Chaudhry and Payoshi Roy.
Mr. Chaudhry informed the court about Mr. Navlakha’s health and said that he [Mr. Navlakha] had a lump in his chest and requested that he be taken to a private hospital where his sister is a nurse.
However, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the case, said that moving Mr. Navlakha to the private hospital is not mentioned in the petition and added government hospitals are good. Mr. Singh said, “If at all he wants to go for a check-up, he can go to Tata Memorial Centre Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer...People through out the country come there for treatment.”
The court said there is no mention of the private hospital and directed Mr. Chaudhry to make an application for the same. Mr. Chaudhry said, “When your client tells you there is a lump possibly leading to cancer, you don’t want such delays.” He agreed for Mr. Navlakha to be taken to Tata Hospital.
The prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde agreed to take Mr. Navlakha on September 3 to Tata Hospital at Kharghar. The Bench directed the NIA and the State to file their replies and adjourned the hearing to September 27.
