Lawyers Send Straws & Sippers To Mumbai's Taloja Jail For 83-Year Old Stan Swamy

Stating that the authorities must ensure that the detention of persons at the jail must be 'human', the members of the Bar urged the Jail Superintendent of Taloja Jail to make arrangements for all inmates as per the jail manual who have special medical needs.

"We, the under signed lawyers, feel that above all detention must be humane. To that effect we urge you to make arrangements for all inmates as per the jail manual who have special medical needs.

For Father Stan Swamy, we urge you to facilitate his dignified drinking of water, we are sending this plastic Sipper and paper straws, which we believe are permissible as per the Jail Manual and cannot cause any harm," they wrote to the Superintendent of Taloja Jail.

The octogenarian Jesuit priest had moved a Special NIA Court in Mumbai early this month, stating that he is unable to hold a glass because he has Parkinson's Disease and requires straw/ sipper at the Taloja Jail, where he is presently lodged in connection to the Bhima Koregaon case,

On November 26, Special NIA Judge DE Kothalikar directed the concerned medical officer in Taloja jail to reply to the petition by December 4.

Last month, citing charges under UAPA against Father Stan Swamy, Judge Kothalikar had rejected his medical bail. The bail application was filed citing the pandemic situation and his various comorbidities. Apart from suffering from Parkinson's, Father Swamy has almost lost hearing in both his ears and has fallen in jail multiple times, the application had stated.It was also mentioned that he has been operated for hernia twice and still has pain in his lower abdomen.

Tribal rights activist Stan Swamy was arrested for offences under the UAPA the Bhima Koregaon case for alleged links with Maoists and is currently in the prison hospital. He was arrested by the NIA on October 8 from his residence at Ranchi and was brought to Mumbai the next day. He was remanded to judicial custody from October 9.

The NIA told the court that it cannot meet the demand to return Stan Swamy's straw and sipper claiming that they never recovered such articles from him at the time of his arrest.

Apart from Father Swamy, 81-year-old Varvara Rao is another octogenarian accused in the case who has several comorbidities and even contracted Covid-19 in jail. He has sought bail on medical grounds several times but his request has been denied. Recently, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising appeared on VV Rao's behalf and sought his transfer to Nanavati hospital whichwas allowed by the High Court.

List of Advocates who have signed the letter to Taloja jail for Stan Swamy:

• Nandita Rao
• Malavika Rajkotia
• Sharukh Alam
• Iram Majid
• Naomi Chandra
• Tanima Kishore
• Ruchi Singh
• Anjali Sharma
• Ritu Bhalla
• Kajal Chandra
• Ekta Kapil
• Sunita Dutt
• Santosh Paul, Senior Advocate
• Ethashan Hashmi
• Swaty Singh Malik
• Shweta Kapoor
• Aakanksha Nehra
• Anand Grover, Senior Advocate
• SaumyaTandon
• Anubha Rastogi
• Manali Singhal
• Fozia Rahman
• Mani Gupta
• Niharika Behl
• Aditi Gupta
• WR Khan
• M. Rashid
• M. Noorullah
• Mohan Katarki, Senior Advocate
  
• Sabarish Gandhi
• Anupam Sanghi
• Tarannum Cheema
• Nidhi Mohan Parashar
• Kirti Singh
• Firdaus Moosa
• Kriti Kakkar
• Sonam Anand
• Abdul Nasir Khan
• Kiran Kalra
• Sangeeta Bharti
• Suruchi Suri
• Som Nath Bharti