Plea for Bail by Former DU professor: Saibaba medical conditions worsened because of poor medical facilities in jail Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba, former professor of Delhi University serving a life sentence for his Maoists links at the Nagpur Central Jail, filed a complain against the poor medical facilities available in the jail for the second time.He pleaded for bail in his application to Nagpur branch of Mumbai High Court. He mentioned about the inadequate facilities which are responsible for the disintegration of his health.
The hearing represented by Prashant Sathianathan, a special public prosecutor, was adjourned till July 19, by the division bench of justices, Pradip Deshmukh and Murlidhar Giratkar.
“Saibaba is suffering from 15 or more, different diseases, out of which several of them can cause lethal consequences. His health is diminishing at a fast rate because of the poor condition and untrained staff who are unable to help prisoners with disabilities. He is now in urgent need of medical treatment,” a joint statement issues by human rights defenses and rights of persons with disabilities. A request made to the Government to grant Saibaba, bail on the basis of his health.
Also, according to the report by TOI issued on June 30, Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights experts have also supported the wheelchair-bound professor.
As per the application submitted by Saibaba, there is a lack of proper facilities in jail for the disabled prisoners like him. The rooms where they are kept are not clean and the wheelchair is not a big help because the floor is not levelled.
This is not the first time that the former professor have filed for a bail application consisting the same reasons. He said that he needs regular sessions of physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and occupational therapy to go with it.
According to his wife, Vasanta, he needs her support to survive properly. Verifying this, she filed an application in April 2018, to grant her the permission to stay with him during his medical treatment.
Saibaba with five others were convicted during Gadchiroli sessions court for aiding and abetting Maoist activities and trying to raise a waging war against the nation. Out of them, Vijay Tirki was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment because of his limited role whereas, Saibaba, Mahesh Tirki, Pandu Narote, Hem Mishra and Prashant Rahi were sentenced to life imprisonment under Sections 18, 13, 20, 38 and 39 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Section 120B of IPC for criminal conspiracy.
