Bombay High Court reserves verdict in plea by Maoist leader Narmada Akka for palliative care

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict in a plea seeking direction to the Maharashtra government to transfer Maoist leader Nirmala Uppuganti aka Narmada Akka to a hospice for palliative care on account of terminal cancer..Uppuganti was arrested in 2019 for her alleged involvement in the Gadchiroli Naxal attack of 2019 which had resulted in the death of 15 police personnel and one civilian.She along with her husband were supposedly senior members of the banned organisation, Communist Party of India (Maoist)..In her petition filed through advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry, Uppuganti submitted that was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018.She contended that she was illegally detained by the Maharashtra police in June 2019 due to which she was forced to miss her chemotherapy cycle, deteriorating her condition..Advocate Payoshi Roy appearing for Uppuganti, submitted that she had stage four cancer and was suffering from multiple skeletal metastases and lung metastases.Roy also pointed out that Uppuganti was kept in a crowded prison cell where she had to sleep on the floor with no access to basic facilities like toilets, hot water and other medical facilities.She prayed for palliative care and also requested that she be allowed to meet her husband, a co-accused in the case. .A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar while reserving its verdict, asked advocate Payoshi Roy to be optimistic and not keep saying “petitioner’s last few days”. .“You should be optimistic, why are you restricting her life to last few days? She may live longer. First we are humans, then we are judges,” Justice Shinde said. The Court also added that “at the cost of repetition Article 21 applies to everyone, prisoners also. There are ‘n’ number of judgments. Certainly, discretion has to be used and we cannot go beyond the law, but we will consider all angles.”.Uppuganti highlighted in her petition that the Byculla prison was grossly inadequate and the prison authorities were incapable of caring for her and giving her basic palliative care."Given the petitioner's precarious condition, she requires close monitoring and supervision with adequate personal attention and easy access to critical life saving equipment," her petition stated..Uppuganti had moved the Court seeking urgent relief of transfer so that she can be properly attended to and taken care of during her final days..Public Prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde vehemently opposed the contentions pointing out that Uggupanti was being taken to the TATA Memorial Care Centre thrice a week on alternate days without fail to ensure she gets her treatment as directed by her doctors. The prosecutor also opposed the transfer on the grounds that Uppuganti was an accused in a bomb blast case. .“She can be accommodated in Byculla Prison and she can continue her treatment in TATA. She is able to move.. She is kept with two convicts who are taking care of her as and when required,” the prosecutor said in opposition..Roy however contended that there is no possibility of cure for Uppuganti. “She is beyond possibilty of cure. The radiation and chemotherapy is only to reduce her pain, it is only for pain management. No where have the respondents stated that she can be looked after even for the basic care,” Roy submitted.