Wangchuk gets HC relief, moved out of Safdarjung
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered immediate shifting of Sonam Wangchuk from Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the order on an appeal by his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, against a Sunday order of the HC refusing to interfere with his ongoing treatment at the Government hospital. The court asked the director of Medanta Hospital to form a team of doctors with requisite expertise to constantly monitor Wangchuk.
“We are very happy. This order came in record time. In India, a democratic citizen has the right to choose doctors and hospitals,” Angmo told reporters after the court proceedings. She alleged that Wangchuk’s admission to the Government hospital amounted to a detention. She also alleged that Wangchuk was brought to Safdarjung Hospital by police rather than hospital staff and claimed that he was kept in the intensive care unit unnecessarily.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, however, asserted that the activist should not seek discharge from Medanta Hospital against medical advice.
“The irony of the situation today is that those around him want him out irrespective of his health,” Mehta added.
“We will not go into all that. Do not drag the court into all that,” Chief Justice Upadhyaya responded.
“We accordingly direct that the husband of the appellant shall immediately be shifted to Medanta Hospital, Gurugram. The director of Medanta Hospital shall form a team of doctors having requisite expertise, which shall constantly monitor the medical condition of the husband of the appellant and shall also administer medication as may be required in their opinion in terms of the accepted medical norms and protocols, to which the husband of the appellant shall abide,” the court ordered. “We are concerned with (Wangchuk’s) fundamental rights. Nothing to do with all that is going on,” the bench remarked, as it closed the proceedings. It also said that Angmo will be permitted to visit Wangchuk as and when she desires.
In her appeal, Angmo contended that the single judge’s Sunday order illegally confined Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital without any arrest and effectively directed that neither the activist nor his wife had decisive authority in determining his medical treatment.
Angmo’s senior counsel had said Wangchuk was picked up from Jantar Mantar on July 18 and taken to Safdarjung Hospital without any consultation and in the absence of any medical emergency, purportedly in line with the bench’s July 16 order asking the authorities to monitor his health and medically intervene if necessary. Asserting the right to accept medical treatment or oversight at a hospital of one’s choice and bodily autonomy, Sibal had said the sequence of events had resulted in a “loss of trust”, and Wangchuk, who was not under any detention, should be permitted to be discharged from Safdarjung Hospital.
