Instances of arrested political leaders overstaying in hospitals on the pretext of ailments are not uncommon. Instead of staying in jails during judicial custody, the political leaders often feign bad health and with the help of doctors, the arrested political leaders stay too long in the hospitals.
Raising this issue in the context of arrested BJD MlA Pravat Ranjan Biswal, two social activists of Cuttack city have approached the Orissa High Court in a PIl urging the court to direct for an expert team from the AIIMS Bhubaneswar to examine the ailment of the legislator, who is currently staying at the SCB Medical College Hospital here for over a month after he was arrested in September.
Activists Sudhansu Sekhar Parida and Akhshaya Kumar Panda in their petition have mentioned that the Cuttack-Choudwar MlA was arrested by the CBI on September 19 for his alleged involvement in the Seashore chit fund scam. After the end of his five-day police remand and soon after his bail was rejected by the lower courts, Biswal complained of bad health.
After a brief stay in the Capital Hospital of Bhubaneswar, he was shifted to the Cuttack hospital on September 25 and he is in the hospital for over five weeks, the petition said and urged the High Court to direct an expert team of doctors to examine the MlA and report about his actual health condition.
The petition has also alleged that due to the MlA’s long stay in the hospital, many of his supporters are visiting him daily, thereby causing inconvenience to other patients. The PIl, which was filed on Wednesday, has, however, not been listed yet for hearing.