Top opposition leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding action against those responsible for “foisting false cases” against Stan Swamy.
In the letter, the leaders alleged that Stan Swamy, Jesuit priest, an accused in Elgar Parishad case was jailed on “trumped up charges under the draconian UAPA” and “was denied treatment for his various ailments”. “The numerous appeals made to shift him out of the over crowded Taloja jail that had seen a huge rise in Covid cases went unheeded. His appeals for bail and being sent home too were rejected, the leader said.
The leaders noted that it was after Bombay high court’s intervention Swamy was admitted to a private hospital when his condition started deteriorating due to Covid-19.
“But it was too late to prevent his death in custody,” the letter read.
The letter has been signed by former PM HD Deve Gowda, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav, NC chief Farooq Abdullah and CPI’s D Raja.
The opposition sought President Kovind’s immediate intervention to direct Centre to act against those responsible for “foisting false cases on hint, his continued detention in jail and inhuman treatment”.
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