Transfer Narmada Akka to hospice for palliative care: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to transfer Maoist leader Nirmala Uppuganti aka Narmada Akka to a hospice by September 15, 2021 for palliative care on account of terminal cancer (Nirmala Uppuganti v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.)..The order was passed by a Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar directed the Byculla Women's prison authorities to transfer Akka to Shanti Avedna Sadan, a hospice care institute, for a period of 12 weeks for which the medical team has planned the treatment. .Uppuganti was arrested in 2019 for her alleged involvement in the Gadchiroli Naxal attack of 2019 which had resulted in the death of 15 police personnel and one civilian.She along with her husband were allegedly senior members of the banned organisation, Communist Party of India (Maoist)..Uppuganti's petition stated that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018.After she was illegally detained by the Maharashtra police in June 2019, her petition added, she was forced to miss her chemotherapy cycle which further deteriorated her health condition..Uppuganti moved the Court seeking urgent relief of transfer so that she could be properly taken care of during her final days.Along with palliative care, Uppuganti also requested that she be allowed to meet her husband, who is also a co-accused in the case..Advocate Payoshi Roy for Uppuganti had submitted that Uppuganti now had stage four cancer and was suffering from multiple skeletal and lung metastases.Roy had argued that Uppuganti who was lodged in Byculla Women's Prison was kept in a crowded prison cell where she had to sleep on the floor with no access to basic facilities like toilet, hot water, etc. Her contention was that there was no possibility for cure of the disease and whatever treatment was ongoing in TATA Memorial Care Centre was only to reduce her pain. .Public Prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde had, however, vehemently opposed the petition pointing out that Uggupanti was being taken to the TATA thrice a week on alternate days without fail to ensure she gets her treatment as directed by her doctors.The prosecutor also pointed out that Uppuganti, an accused in the bomb blast case, was being tended to properly by her prison mates and she was able to move..After hearing the submissions by both sides, the Bench had reserved the plea for orders on September 7..[Read order]