Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, died on Monday while awaiting interim medical bail. Dr. Ian D’souza, director of the Mumbai-based Holy Family Hospital, where Swamy was being treated privately, and the tribal rights activist’s lawyer Mihir Desai informed a Bombay High Court bench of Swamy’s death due to cardiac arrhythmia.
Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar, who made up the bench, expressed shock at the news, saying they were at a loss for words and wishing Swamy’s soul to rest in peace. In the meantime, the Jesuit Provincial of India issued a statement mourning Swamy’s death. The priest had spent his entire life working for ‘Adivasis, Dalits, and marginalized communities,’ according to the report.
Senior counsel Desai told the HC that while he had no complaints about the HC or the private hospital where Swamy was treated, he couldn’t say the same about the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the Elgar Parishad-Maoist ties case, or the state prison authorities.
Desai claimed the NIA was negligent in providing Swamy with timely and adequate medical care, and he urged the HC to launch a judicial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the activist’s death. Swamy was taken to the state-run J J Hospital ten days before being admitted to the Holy Family Hospital, according to him (on May 29 this year). However, he claims that he was not tested for COVID-19 at the J J Hospital.
Swamy’s report tested positive for coronavirus at a private hospital, according to the lawyer.
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