Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Breach Candy Hospital not to discharge Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, till June 1 and sought a medical report on his condition and treatment given to him.
A vacation bench of Justices SS Shinde and N R Borkar said if the private hospital was to discharge Hany Babu before June 1, then it shall first inform the court and take permission. Hany Babu tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month and was initially brought from the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai to the government-run J J Hospital. He was later shifted to the GT Hospital in Mumbai.
His wife Jenny Rowena subsequently filed a petition in the HC seeking interim bail and medical aid for him.
Their counsel Yug Chaudhry had argued that Hany Babu developed a severe eye infection and ran the risk of losing vision in his left eye.
On May 19, the High Court permitted Hany Babu to be shifted to the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai for medical treatment at his own cost.
On Thursday, Mr Chaudhry sought an urgent hearing of the petition, saying Babu should not be discharged from the hospital and sent back to jail.
"From May 3 to May 12, the prison authorities systematically ignored his (Babu) complaint of eye infection. Currently, he is being treated at the Breach Candy Hospital. Our only request is he should not be discharged and sent back to jail on the ground that he does not require critical care anymore," Mr Chaudhry said.
When the bench asked if Hany Babu's eye ailment was the new Black Fungus infection, also known as mucormycosis, Mr Chaudhry said the hospital had checked, but they (Babus family or lawyer) do not know whether it is a fungal infection or a bacterial infection.
The bench then said the hospital should submit to the court an interim report on Hany Babu's condition and the treatment provided to him.