Kolkata: Noted civil rights activist Dr Binayak Sen's bail plea comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court. He has been in jail since 2007. He was charged with helping Naxals, but the state so far has not been able to provide any proof.
And now, he is seriously ill with a heart disease but not allowed to go out for treatment. In fact even a meeting with a cardiologist was possible only after his family moved court in February.
"I had recommended angiography. It is up to him to CMC, Vellore or here," says Dr Ashish Malhotra, Sen's cardiologist.
The law allows undertrials to choose any facility for treatment provided they bear the cost. But Sen's family says the Chhattisgarh police has refused to let Binayak go to Vellore. They say, jail authorities have repeatedly put pressure on Binayak Sen to use hospitals in Raipur for angioplasty. But Sen says he fears for his life in Raipur.
"I don't know what to make of it. I am worried about his cardiac condition, I am worried about his health and I am also worried about continuous police interference and Dr Sen," says Ilina Sen, wife of Dr Binayak Sen.
"I want him to be released now. I know I am not in a position to be emotional but I am 82 years old and I want to see him out of jail," says his mother Anasuya Sen.
Sen's request is hardly unprecedented. In 2003, the state sent Siv Sena leader Dhananjay Singh Parihar in Raipur Jail on a murder charge to several hospitals in Chennai and Mumbai. But in Sen's case, it seems the law has no mercy.