Ensure proper treatment to Yasin Malik: Delhi HC to Tihar Jail superintendent

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Superintendent of the Tihar Jail to ensure proper medical treatment to separatist leader Yasin Malik, who is serving life sentence in a terror funding case.

Malik claims to be suffering from serious cardiac and kidney problems.

The high court was informed by the counsel for the Central government and Director General of Prisons (Tihar Jail) that the petition suffers from serious suppression of facts and that Malik was refusing treatment being given to him by authorities.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta asked the counsel for the Centre and DG (Prisons) to produce the record to show that the inmate was refusing treatment and also asked the superintendent of the jail concerned to place before it the medical report of Malik by the next date of hearing.

The high court listed for February 14, Malik’s plea seeking a direction to the authorities to produce the record of his treatment and refer him to AIIMS or any private super specialty hospital here or in Jammu and Kashmir for proper and necessary treatment as he was suffering from serious cardiac and kidney ailments.

As the counsel for the authorities contended that Malik was a “very high risk security prisoner” and therefore, the medical team can be brought in the jail itself, the court asked him to place his stand in writing so that it can be considered.

Advocate Rajat Nair, representing the Centre and DG (Prisons), contended that a medical board was constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). However, Malik refused to be examined.