A sessions court at Gadchiroli has issued a notice to the Superintendent and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Taloja Central Jail, with regards to their failure to take advocate Surendra Gadling to hospital last year, even three months after being directed to do so by the court. Mr. Gadling is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case of 2018.
Sessions judge U.B. Shukla passed an order on January 12 to issue notice to the Superintendent and CMO to explain why directions given by the court were not followed and why an action should not be initiated against them for committing breach of orders.
On February 8, 2022, the court had directed Mr. Gadling to be referred to State-run JJ Hospital for psychiatric treatment. After being examined by a psychiatrist and given medicines, he was to be referred to the hospital on February 20. However, Mr. Gadling says that he kept requesting the jailor and senior , but it yielded no result. According to his application to the court, “despite making continuous requests to the jailors, he was not taken to the hospital.”
On April 12, 2022, the court passed an order directing the Superintendent of the jail to provide all medical facilities to the accused and subject him to “periodical medical check-up” and provide him further medical treatment as advised by the medical officer. Although the court issued directions for “the follow-up medical treatment and examination to be done as per the advice of the medical officer”, this was not done, alleged Mr. Gadling.
In the application, he added, “Though the psychiatrist on February 10, 2022, had advised a follow up after 10 days, he was taken to JJ Hospital only on June 6, 2022. Despite a directive by the doctor to carry out certain investigations, the CMO failed to carry them out.”
On July 8, 2022, Mr. Gadling was taken to the hospital in an emergency after he complained of severe chest pain. He was advised to undergo 15 investigations. However, these investigations have still not taken place and the CMO has made a false report, alleged Mr. Gadling, seeking contempt proceedings to be initiated against him.
Mr. Gadling was arrested in Nagpur on June 6, 2018, on charges of being part of a front organisation for the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and for allegedly promoting enmity between caste groups, among other charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code.
