Stan Swamy death: Bombay HC directs NIA, prison authorities to examine activist’s medical reports

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the National Investigation Agency and the Maharashtra prison department to examine the medical reports of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, who died on July 5, reported the Hindustan Times.

Swamy suffered from Parkinson’s disease and also contracted the coronavirus infection while in prison in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case. Last week, the High Court was hearing Swamy’s plea seeking bail, when his counsel Mihir Desai informed the bench that the activist had died.

Desai demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of the activist, saying Swamy was taken to hospital 10 days late. The lawyer also alleged that the activist died due to a lack of medical facilities and blamed the Taloja Jail authorities.

The High Court had then directed the National Investigation Agency and the prison department to furnish Swamy’s medical records by July 13 to ascertain the veracity of the allegations made by Desai, reported The Indian Express.

It had also said that the inquiry in the alleged custodial death should be done by a competent authority. The court had directed Desai to find someone to take part in the investigation as per Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, undertaken by the magistrate to look into cases of custodial deaths.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna…

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