New Delhi: The government’s action to shift activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital was not arbitrary, given his deteriorating health after weeks of fasting, the Delhi High Court observed on Sunday.
Justice Mini Pushkarna refused to grant any interim relief while hearing a petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J Angmo, seeking his discharge from Safdarjung Hospital and transfer to a private hospital.
The Centre has also been directed to file a status report within three days.
“Since the government has taken the decision to shift him to the hospital on account of his medical condition, this court does not find the same to be an arbitrary action,” the Court observed, as reported by The Times of India.
“Since doctors at Safdarjung are closely monitoring his health and have only given oral things as per his consent, it can’t be said any force is being used against him,” it added.
Justice Pushkarna also took note of the government’s submission that Wangchuk was not under detention. “Considering the fact that he, on his own, did not check himself into any hospital, the government was within its right to take such action,” the Court said, according to ANI.
The Court was informed during the hearing that Wangchuk’s potassium level had fallen to a dangerously low level and that intravenous (IV) fluids had not been administered because he had not consented to the treatment.
Wangchuk would cooperate with doctors if they considered any medical intervention necessary, the Court recorded.
“Wangchuk will cooperate with doctors, if he so chooses, I am not directing,” Justice Pushkarna added, clarifying the observation.
Additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma appeared for the Centre and said Wangchuk’s health had deteriorated after 18 days of fasting in the prevailing weather conditions.
“Wangchuk’s health was deteriorating after 18 days of fasting in the current weather,” Sharma submitted, adding that prolonged fasting could lead to ketosis, shock, hypoglycaemia and impaired kidney function.
Wangchuk was being treated in the emergency ward under the supervision of two senior doctors, he said, referring to the latest medical reports.
Defending the credibility of the medical reports, Sharma said that tests had been conducted at Safdarjung Hospital, AIIMS, Mahajan Imaging and a private laboratory.
“There is absolutely no reason for anyone to doubt the medical reports. He has been properly cared for,” the ASG told the Court.
On the petition seeking unrestricted access for Wangchuk’s family and legal counsel, Sharma said: “This is a hospital, not a courtroom.” When the Court asked whether attendants had been provided accommodation, a doctor informed the bench that a separate room had been arranged.
Angmo filed the petition after Delhi Police shifted Wangchuk to Safdarjung hospital on Saturday, the 21st day of his hunger strike. Appearing for Wangchuk’s wife, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the High Court that the family wanted him to be shifted from Safdarjung hospital to Medanta hospital for further treatment.
There was no medical emergency warranting his removal from the protest site, Wangchuk’s wife said, accusing authorities of taking “colourable advantage” of an earlier High Court order directing medical monitoring.
“There existed no medical emergency or other circumstance warranting such abrupt and coercive intervention. The forcible removal was neither medically necessitated nor legally justified and constitutes a manifest infringement of Shri Sonam Wangchuk’s fundamental rights,” the petition stated.
There were also discrepancies in Wangchuk’s potassium test results, Angmo claimed. The petition sought Wangchuk’s immediate discharge from Safdarjung Hospital, permission to shift him to a private hospital of the family’s choice, unrestricted access for independent doctors and legal counsel, and an independent medical examination.
Angmo posted on X before the hearing that she had “full faith in the judiciary” after the Delhi High Court agreed to hear the matter on an urgent basis.