KOZHIKODE: The lawyer of Siddique Kappan, Malayali journalist who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police, has sent a legal notice to the government in the northern state for "forcibly discharging" his client from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
The notice sent to the chief secretary and DGP said the UP police's action is a violation of the Supreme Court order on April 28. Kappan was admitted to AIIMS on April 30 after the Supreme Court ordered the state to shift him to the hospital for "providing medical treatment", overruling the strong objection from the Uttar Pradesh government.
Kappan's wife Reihanath said that her husband was discharged from AIIMS at midnight on May 6 without informing Kappan's relatives or their lawyer. "There was pressure on the doctors and the paramedical staff to discharge him in haste," she told The New Indian Express.
"He was feeling better at AIIMS as he got good treatment at the hospital. I was not allowed to meet him though I reached the ward. Five armed policemen were put on duty in front of the ward. Kappan's injured jaw is still giving him pain and his blood sugar level remains very high even after administering insulin injection," Reihanath, who returned from Delhi without meeting her husband, said.
"He called me this morning and I spoke for around five minutes. We are worried over his health condition as the situation in Mathura jail is pathetic," she said.
Adv Wills Mathew, who is representing Kappan in the Supreme Court, said he sent the notice because discharging his client from AIIMS before full recovery is against the court order. "He was discharged from the hospital forcibly," he said.
Kappan’s relatives allege that the UP police are trying to mislead the court. They said the UP police had claimed that Kappan was discharged after he turned COVID negative. But the discharge summary shows that he has mild COVID and has been suffering from Type Two diabetes for the last ten years with HbA1C l level standing at 9.14, which is quite high.
IUML MP ET Muhammad Basheer had written a letter to the AIIMS authorities to enable Reihananth to meet her husband at the hospital. But the hospital authorities replied that that it was not possible because Kappan was in the COVID ward and no one from outside was allowed into the ward.