Father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case last year, died in on Monday. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest was put on ventilator after his health deteriorated further early Sunday.
Swamy was admitted to a private hospital since May 30 following the directions of the Bombay High Court.
On Saturday, his lawyer, Mihir Desai, had informed the HC, which is hearing Swamy’s bail pleas, that the latter continued to be in the Intensive Care Unit.
Swamy has been undergoing treatment at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, following a court order on May 28.
The cost of his treatment at the private hospital is being borne by his associates and friends.
Last week, Swamy also filed a fresh plea in the HC, challenging section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), that imposes stringent bars on the grant of bail to an accused charged under the Act.
Swamy and his co-accused in the Elgar case have repeatedly complained of inadequate health facilities at the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, where they were lodged as undertrials.
Through their pleas filed in the HC as well as oral and written statements made in the HC, they have complained several times of neglect on part of the Taloja prison authorities in ensuring medical aid, timely tests and maintaining hygiene and social distancing.
In May this year, Swamy told a vacation bench of the high court via video-conferencing that his health had consistently declined at the Taloja prison.
He had urged the HC to release him on interim bail at that time and said if things continued the way they were, he ‘would die soon’.
