Even as administration failed to do so

Nature silences Fr Stan Swamy

Human Rights activist Fr Stan Swamy died this afternoon in Mumbai. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest, who was arrested from Ranchi by National Investigation Agency last October, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case in Maharashtra.

Since his arrest, Fr Swamy has been knocking the doors of the courts for bail, even as several human rights organisations and activists protested his arrest. He was known for his work among the tribals.

Fr Swamy breathed his last at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, around 1.30 pm. He was put on the ventilator yesterday as his health deteriorated. Fr Swamy was languishing in the Taloja prison, near Mumbai.

He suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for the last few years and contracted COVID 19 at the Taloja jail. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Maharashtra Government after receipt of a complaint about Fr Swamy’s health. The HNRC asked the Maharashtra Chief Secretary to ensure that proper medical care to Fr Swamy. The Commission also sought a report on the entire case involving Fr Swamy.

A Bombay High Court bench comprising Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar on an appeal for temporary bail on medical grounds to Fr Swamy. The Special NIA court had earlier rejected his application for bail.

Fr Swamy’s advocate Mihir Desai, sought a judicial probe into the situation leading to the death of the human rights activist. Desai told the court that he has no complaint against the hospital or the court, but that he “cannot say the same of the NIA and the jail authorities”.

Fr Swamy told a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court this May, via video-conferencing that his health had consistently declined at the Taloja prison. He had urged the HC to release him on interim bail at that time and said if things continued the way they were, he "would die soon". He was proved right.