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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed activist Sonam Wangchuk to be shifted to a private hospital, from Safdarjung Hospital. The order of the High Court, came on a plea filed by Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo. She had challenged an order by a single-judge bench passed earlier. Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike for more than 2 weeks now, demanding accountability of the government on the recent NEET UG exam paper leak.

Centre says no objection:

The Delhi High Court’s decision came after the Centre informed the bench that it had no objection to Wangchuk being transferred to Medanta Hospital. But it requested that the activist be kept under continuous medical supervision.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said in the High Court, “The Centre has no objection to shifting Sonam Wangchuk to Medanta Hospital.” But he added that “Wangchuk should remain under continuous observation and not be discharged, except on the advice of Medanta doctors.”

The bench said that Wangchuk be transferred to Medanta along with all his medical records from Safdarjung. The court said that a formal order to this effect would be passed after lunch.

Tuesday was the 24th day of Wangchuk’s hunger strike. The strike continued as the Cockroach Janata Party, after holding a round of talks with the government on Monday, continued to protest at Jantar Mantar. They demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET IG Paper leak.

The CJP led by Abhijeet Dipke has vowed to continue their protests until all their demands are fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali thanked the Delhi High Court for passing a favourable order. She was quoted by news agencies as saying, “”I thank Delhi High Court for favourably disposing of this matter. In India, a democratic citizen has the right to choose his choice of doctor and hospital and treatment. Here, we had a trust deficit because of the way he was brought here. His hospitalisation was not needed, as monitoring of his health could be done at Jantar Mantar. It was like a detention so that he cannot get in contact with people outside.”

Talking about her husband’s health she said that his health parameters were not life threatening. She said that she and his family were more worried about his health than the government.

She informed that Wangchuk had chosen to continue his fast to show solidarity with the students beaten up by the police during Monday’s protest. She concluded by saying that many MPs who had come to Safdurjung Hospital were not allowed to meet him. Dr Lamba and Dr Dighe, who were treating him for the past 20 days, told the court today that even the doctor giving treatment was not being allowed to meet the patient. We felt detention and captivity in that hospital. After lunch, a written order will be given, then we will shift him to Medanta.