Activist Stan Swamy passes away ahead of his bail hearing

Tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, passed away on Monday at 1:30 pm at the Holy Family Hospital here.

His health condition was critical for the last one month, his lawyer Mihir Desai said on Monday. Till late Sunday night, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest was on ventilator support, the senior counsel told PTI.

Swamy, 84, had tested positive for coronavirus at a private hospital last month and was subsequently shifted to the ICU.

Swamy has been undergoing treatment at the Holy Family Hospital here, following a court order on May 28. The cost of his treatment at the private hospital is being borne by his associates and friends.

On Saturday, advocate Desai told a bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar that Swamy's health was critical and that he was still in the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU).

The bench had then adjourned the hearing on Swamy's medical bail plea to Tuesday and extended his stay at the hospital till then.

Last week, Swamy also filed a fresh plea in the HC, challenging section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), that imposes stringent bars on the grant of bail to an accused charged under the Act.

On Monday, Desai said he will not be moving the HC for any urgent hearing on either the bail plea or the fresh plea challenging provisions of the UAPA.

"I don't have any morning updates on his (Swamy's) health. But, till late last night, he was on ventilator support," Desai said.

"So, the priority now is his medical treatment. Even if he is acquitted by the court tomorrow, what can happen? His health condition is such that he will continue being in the hospital," he said.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Sunday issued a notice to the Maharashtra government in the wake of a complaint alleging serious health condition of the imprisoned activist.

In the notice sent through the state's chief secretary, the NHRC called upon him to ensure every possible effort is made to provide proper medical care and treatment to Swamy as part of life-saving measure and protection of his basic human rights.

The commission also called for a report in the light of the allegations made in the complaint, and the treatment record of the activist.

In May this year, Swamy told a vacation bench of the high court via video-conferencing that his health had consistently declined at the Taloja prison. He had urged the HC to release him on interim bail at that time and said if things continued the way they were, he "would die soon".