The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Prisons Department to respond by Tuesday to a plea to shift life convict P. Rajagopal, founder of popular restaurant chain Saravana Bhavan, from Government Stanley Medical College Hospital to either Vijaya Primary Health Centre or SRM Institute of Medical Sciences in Vadapalani here.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and M. Nirmal Kumar directed a government counsel to obtain instructions quickly since it was claimed that the 72-year-old convict in a murder case had lost vision in both eyes and that he suffered a cardiac arrest at the government hospital on Saturday after being shifted there from the central prison at Puzhal on July 9.
Filing an habeas corpus petition in the court, the convict’s son R. Saravanan said, his father was convicted by the High Court in a case related to the kidnap and murder of their restaurant employee. The conviction as well as life sentence were confirmed by the Supreme Court on March 29 with a grace time till July 7 for surrendering before the lower court.
Since the apex court refused to extend the grace time, the petitioner’s “bed ridden” father had no choice but to surrender, he said and claimed that the convict was suffering from multiple ailments. It was stated that he was a chronic Type 2 diabetic patient who required insulin injections four times a day and also had to maintain strict control over his diet.
Diabetes had led to chronic kidney disease which was at stage 3 and that, in turn, had made him loose vision completely on his right eye and partially on his left eye, the petitioner said. Further, the convict suffered from pedal oedema on both his legs and was incapable of walking without support. He was also facing high risk of suffering a heart attack any time.
“I submit that a Ventriculo Peritoneal Shunt has been implanted in his brain to drain the excess fluid,” the petitioner said and contended that all his submissions were backed by medical certificates issued by doctors from reputed private hospitals. The court was told that the covict required the assistance of at least two nurses all the time.
“My father is also affected by carnified left lower lobe airway disease, obesity, hypo ventricular and obstructive sleep APNEA syndrome with occurent exacerbation besides suffering from multiple systemic diseases. He is on non-invasive ventilation and he is supposed to use this equipment lifelong for sleeping,” the petitioner’s affidavit read.
Stating that the convict had also been diagnosed of early stages of Parkinsons disease, the petitioner insisted that it was absolutely necessary to shift him to a private hospital where he had taken treatment all along and also to continue to be administered with the same medicines which he had been using before his surrender.
