No house arrest for jailed PFI leader Abubacker: Delhi HC
The Hindu
“We are not granting you house arrest. There is no provision in law for house arrest. The honourable Supreme Court has powers which this court does not,” the court said
Hearing a plea by E. Abubacker against a trial court order refusing to release him on medical grounds, the Delhi High Court on December 19 said the jailed former chairman of the Popular Front of India (PFI) will be provided medical treatment but not kept in house arrest.
“When you are asking for medical bail, why should we send you to your house? We will send you to a hospital,” remarked a Bench headed by Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh.
Last month, Mr. Abubacker’s counsel had said that the 70-year-old had cancer and Parkinson’s disease and was in “great pain”, which needed urgent medical supervision.
Mr. Abubacker was arrested by the agency during a massive crackdown on the banned organisation earlier this year and is presently in judicial custody.
The Bench on Dec. 19 remarked that there was no provision in law for a “house arrest” and directed that Mr. Abubacker be “escorted safely” to AIIMS in custody for an oncosurgery review on December 22 and also permitted his son to remain present at the time of consultation.
“We are not granting you house arrest. There is no provision in law for house arrest. The honourable Supreme Court has powers which this court does not,” the court said.
“We don’t see anything appropriate in this because no surgery has been recommended. We can’t grant you house arrest, first of all. If your medical condition requires hospitalisation, we can direct hospitalisation. We may permit an attendant. We are not permitting anything else,” added the court.
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