The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed Prof Hany Babu, accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case to be shifted to Breach Candy hospital to treat his undiagnosed eye infection after family agrees to foot the bill.
This direction came when doctors at the GT Hospital where Mr Babu is admitted on testing positive for COVID 19 said they do not have an MRI machine to test the ophthalmic artery.
A division bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and SP Tavade was hearing a plea filed by Jenny Rowena, wife of Mr Babu urged the court to grant him medical bail. As an interim measure she sought for tests to be conducted for mucormycosis either by a diagnostic nasal endoscopy or KOH staining and microscopy, culture sample.
Advocate Yug Chaudhry representing him told the court that his eye infection has reached cheek, ear and forehead and that he is not being treated for the same.
Justice Kathawalla then told the Superintendent of GT Hospital, Dr BG Chikhalkar to arrange for a video call with Mr Babu despite he is being in isolation. A doctor went into a ward and made Mr Babu appear in court through virtually. After the court asked him how his eye is and if he is being treated, he said, "My eye is better, it is being treated, there is improvement in the eye and he is satisfied with the treatment."
Mr Chaudhry however said an MRI has to be conducted for his eye which is not being done at GT Hospital. The court then asked the doctors present about this and was told that they don’t have the said machine to conduct the test and that he can be shifted transferred to JJ Hospital only after being tested negative.
The court then asked Mr Chaudhry if he wants Mr Babu to be shifted to a private hospital provided the family pays for the treatment.
However, he said, he does not mind paying the bill as long as he is granted bail and that the doctors don’t follow instructions by the State.
The bench said Mr Babu should be shifted to Breach Candy on Thursday and directed the doctors there to treat him and submit a report by June 9.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh representing the National Investigation Agency probing the case interrupted and said, JJ, Nair and KEM Hospitals have the facility to test Mr Babu’s eye. He opposed the decision of shifting Mr Babu to a private hospital and said this will become a precedent and all prisoners will want to be treated privately.
To which the court said, “There is nothing wrong if it becomes a precedent if the family is willing to pay.”
