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Supreme Court seeks CBI response on plea seeking interim bail for Sajjan Kumar
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the CBI on an application filed by Kumar who is undergoing a life term following his conviction in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi by the Delhi High Court in December 2018.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to the plea filed by Congress leader Sajjan Kumar seeking interim bail or suspension of sentence on account of his deteriorating medical condition.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the CBI on an application filed by Kumar who is undergoing a life term following his conviction in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi by the Delhi High Court in December 2018.
The court said, “Let the medical condition of the appellant (Kumar) be verified and an affidavit be filed by CBI within one week.” The court also asked CBI to take instructions on Kumar’s demand to be treated at Medanta Hospital.
In his bail application, Sajjan Kumar, 77, stated that his condition is critical and that he was currently undergoing treatment in the Emergency ICU at Safdarjung Hospital. “Due to his old age and his ill-health, he has become infirm and is incapable of taking care of himself and requires constant human attention for his daily needs such as bathing, going to the toilet, eating, etc,” said the application filed through Kumar’s advocate Ajay Marwah.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Kumar, told the court that at Medanta, there was provision for colonoscopy which is not available at Safdarjung hospital.
Singh said that he had been incarcerated for the past 31 months without being out on parole or furlough, adding that his family members wish to provide him good medical treatment to aid in his speedy recovery.
The application was opposed by the complainants of the case lodged against Kumar. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for the families of victims said that the accused was roaming free till the Delhi high court’s order of December 17, 2018, which reversed the acquittal granted by the trial court in 2013.
Dave pointed out that in March last year, AIIMS had examined the accused and submitted a report to the apex court indicating that the accused had no pressing medical concern.
However, Kumar’s counsel argued that more than a year has passed since and said the present condition of the accused is critical.
In his application, Kumar said that as he was old, his condition was most vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic and prayed for his immediate release either on bail or on temporary suspension of sentence.
CBI was represented by advocate Shradha Deshmukh who accepted notice on the bail application and agreed to file an affidavit before the next date of hearing.
