Days after a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court declined activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk's request to be shifted to a private hospital, a division bench on Tuesday permitted his transfer to Medanta Hospital, granting relief to the hunger-striking activist and his family.
Wangchuk, who has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital after being shifted from the Jantar Mantar protest site, had sought permission to receive treatment at Medanta. The court directed Safdarjung Hospital to hand over all his medical records and test reports to a panel of doctors at Medanta, which has been asked to constitute a dedicated medical team for his treatment. A detailed order is expected to be issued by the court.
The matter came up before the division bench after Wangchuk's wife, Dr Gitanjali Angmo, challenged Sunday's order of the single-judge bench, which had refused to allow his transfer. During Tuesday's hearing, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that, in compliance with earlier directions, doctors from AIIMS were already present at Safdarjung Hospital to monitor Wangchuk's condition.
Angmo also filed an affidavit placing on record medical reports and opinions from doctors who have been treating or advising Wangchuk over the years, as well as physicians who attended to him during his ongoing protest. Her counsel clarified that while these doctors had not physically examined him at Safdarjung Hospital, their opinions were based on his medical history and available reports.
The Centre told the court it had no objection to Wangchuk being shifted to Medanta but requested that he remain under continuous medical supervision. Mehta urged the court to direct that Wangchuk should not be discharged from Medanta unless advised by its treating doctors, expressing concern that those accompanying him might otherwise remove him from medical care prematurely.
On Sunday, Justice Mini Pushkarna had refused interim relief, observing that the government's decision to shift Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site, where he has been on an indefinite hunger strike since June 28, to Safdarjung Hospital was neither arbitrary nor violative of his bodily autonomy. The court had noted that doctors were monitoring him closely and that only ORS without sugar and potassium chloride tablets had been administered with his consent.
