India
SC directs shifting of Dutch prisoner from Srinagar Jail to Delhi hospital for Schizophrenia treatment | India News
[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: Coming to the rescue of a Dutch national who is languishing in Srinagar central jail despite suffering from paranoid Schizophrenia and his trial being suspended because of an unstable mental condition, the Supreme Court has directed that he be shifted out of prison and be treated at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences in New Delhi.
A bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal said that the foreign national, who has been in jail for the last 10 years in a murder case, needed specialised care and agreed with the plea of advocate Rohan Garg who submitted that there is no facility in Srinagar jail where he is lodged to provide treatment for the deadly disease.
Garg was appearing for the mother of accused Richard de Wit who was arrested for allegedly killing 24-year-old British woman Sarah Elizabeth Groves on April 6, 2013, in Srinagar and he has been in jail since then.
He was detected suffering from chronic “psychotic disorder within schizophrenia spector” in 2016 when he was medically examined. His mental condition has deteriorated to such an extent that he was declared unfit to face trial and proceedings against him were suspended by trial court in 2021. As he continued to be in incarceration and not shifted to hospital for proper treatment, his mother approached the apex court through lawyer T L Garg and sought the court’s intervention for ensuring specialised treatment for his son. She alleged that Wit was not given proper treatment despite recommendations of the medical superintendent of various governemnt hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir to shift him to a specialised hospital.
The top court allowed her plea after the state also agreed to it. The court said, “The Writ Petition is disposed of directing the State to transfer the petitioner/detenue to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi for specialized care. It is on a condition that after the psychological condition of the petitioner/detenue improves, he shall be shifted to the Central Prison, Srinagar. It is made clear that the period during which he receives treatment at the special care centre, will be part of the custody and hence, he will not be permitted to go out freely”.
A bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal said that the foreign national, who has been in jail for the last 10 years in a murder case, needed specialised care and agreed with the plea of advocate Rohan Garg who submitted that there is no facility in Srinagar jail where he is lodged to provide treatment for the deadly disease.
Garg was appearing for the mother of accused Richard de Wit who was arrested for allegedly killing 24-year-old British woman Sarah Elizabeth Groves on April 6, 2013, in Srinagar and he has been in jail since then.
He was detected suffering from chronic “psychotic disorder within schizophrenia spector” in 2016 when he was medically examined. His mental condition has deteriorated to such an extent that he was declared unfit to face trial and proceedings against him were suspended by trial court in 2021. As he continued to be in incarceration and not shifted to hospital for proper treatment, his mother approached the apex court through lawyer T L Garg and sought the court’s intervention for ensuring specialised treatment for his son. She alleged that Wit was not given proper treatment despite recommendations of the medical superintendent of various governemnt hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir to shift him to a specialised hospital.
The top court allowed her plea after the state also agreed to it. The court said, “The Writ Petition is disposed of directing the State to transfer the petitioner/detenue to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi for specialized care. It is on a condition that after the psychological condition of the petitioner/detenue improves, he shall be shifted to the Central Prison, Srinagar. It is made clear that the period during which he receives treatment at the special care centre, will be part of the custody and hence, he will not be permitted to go out freely”.
#directs #shifting #Dutch #prisoner #Srinagar #Jail #Delhi #hospital #Schizophrenia #treatment #India #News
