Sudha Bharadwaj

Woman Human Rights Defender

Chhattisgarh

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on September 3, 2020, to re-evaluate the health of WHRD and lawyer Ms. Sudha Bharadwaj independently and release her from jail given her poor health. 

Ms. Bharadwaj is a senior lawyer and activist who has been working in Chhattisgarh for the land rights of Adivasis for over 30 years. She is a visiting professor at the National Law University, Delhi, and has been incarcerated in jails of Pune and Mumbai since August 2018 as an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case.

Ms. Bhardwaj’s medical report made available to family members by jail authorities on July 21, 2020, stated she was suffering from Ischemic Heart Disease. She was arrested for ailments like diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis and also has a history of pulmonary tuberculosis. A report submitted on August 3, 2020, to the Bombay High Court stated that she had diabetes, moderate depression, osteoarthritis, Ischemic disease, and Tinea Corporis (skin fungal infection). The only divergence between July 21, 2020, and the August 3, 2020 reports was that the former stated that the HRD had diabetes mellitus (RBS 194), while the latter stated diabetes (RBS 153). 

However, another report submitted on August 21, 2020, to the Bombay High Court’s divisional bench did not mention Ischemic Heart Disease at all. All three reports were made by the Medical Officer, Mumbai District Women Prison, Byculla, Mumbai. 

The family of the HRD is concerned over rising COVID-19 cases in the jail and applied for interim bail citing her medical history and vulnerability to infection under the current circumstances. But the bail plea was rejected based on the medical report given on August 21, 2020. She has been in prison for nearly two years without any trial, and bail must be given in accordance with the Supreme Court’s orders for decongestion of prisons.