Activist Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists connections case, passed away on Monday, ahead of his Bail hearing in Bombay High Court.
According to reports, Swamy, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and bilateral hearing loss has died of cardiac arrest. After his condition deteriorated on Sunday, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest was placed on ventilator support. Swamy’s attorneys had requested an expedited hearing on his medical bail application.
Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon case for suspected criminal conspiracy and sedition under the UAPA. He laboured for almost five decades in Jharkhand as a tribal rights activist, advocating for the rights of the adivasi population.
Swamy and his co-accused in the Elgar case have complained frequently about poor health care at the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, where they were held as undertrials. They have complained numerous times to the HC in their pleas, oral and written testimonies, about the Taloja prison officials’ failure to provide medical help, timely testing, and maintain hygiene and social distance.
Swamy informed a high court vacation bench through video conference in May that his health has been steadily deteriorating at the Taloja jail. He urged the HC to release him on interim bail, claiming that if things remained as they were, he ‘would die shortly.’
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