'We do not trust the State', Supreme Court tells Manipur as Kuki undertrial not taken to hospital for medical test
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, July 3
Taking strong exception to an undertrial prisoner lodged in a Manipur jail not being taken to a hospital for a medical test just because he belonged to the Kuki community, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said “we do not trust the State.”
A Vacation Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said, “We do not trust the State…The accused was not taken to hospital because he is from the Kuki community. So sad!”
Ordering undertrial Lunkhongam Haokip – who was suffering from tuberculosis and piles to be medically examined, the Bench said, “If the medical report reveals something serious, we will take you to task.”
Haokip’s counsel alleged that the jail officials did not pay heed to persistent requests for medical help by his client who had severe backache.
The top court’s harsh comments came after it perused a Manipur High Court order that revealed Haokip was not taken to a hospital as he was from Kuki community and “shifting him to a hospital will be hazardous taking into account the law and order situation” in the state.
More than 170 people have been killed and several hundred others injured in Manipur that has witnessed ethnic violence between the minority Kuki and majority Meitei communities for more than a year over attempts to include the Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
The top court ordered the jail superintendent and the state authorities to make necessary arrangements for taking the undertrial to Gauhati Medical College to get him examined as regards TB, piles, tonsillitis, abdominal pain as well as problems in lower lumbar spine.
The Bench also sought a detailed medical report on or before July 15 and ordered the state to bear all the expenses, including the treatment cost of the undertrial.
