Court directs AIIMS to constitute medical board to examine Arvind Kejriwal

Court directs AIIMS to constitute medical board to examine Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) A Delhi court on Monday directed the AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to determine whether he needs insulin to control his blood sugar levels and said the home-cooked food that the politician was consuming was different from the diet chart prepared by his doctor.

Special Judge for CBI and ED cases Kaveri Baweja passed the order while declining Kejriwal’s plea for video consultation with his doctor in the presence of his wife.

Kejriwal had alleged he was not being administered insulin in jail leading to “alarming” rise in his blood sugar levels.

The ED had claimed on Friday the AAP leader was consuming sugar-laden food like mangoes and sweets on a regular basis to create grounds for medical bail. Kejriwal responded sharply, accusing the central anti-money laundering agency of acting “petty” and “politicising” what he ate.

The court on Monday ordered all necessary medical treatment to be provided to Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise scam.

The court ordered the AIIMS director to constitute a medical board comprising endocrinologist/diabetologist to examine Kejriwal.

The board will decide whether he should be administered insulin and also take a call on the diet and exercise plan he needs to follow, the court said. It said there shall be no deviations from the diet plan prescribed by the medical board.

In its order, the court said the detailed list of food he consumes “categorically shows that the food items which are being provided as home cooked food, are quite different from the diet prescribed by his own doctor”.

The court also responded to a nonchalant remark by Kejriwal’s lawyer that “Aam aadmi aam nahi khayega to kya mushroom khayega”. The judge said mushrooms had been prescribed by Kejriwal’s own doctor, whereas there was no specific recommendation for eating mangoes.

“This court is also unable to fathom as to why the family of the applicant has been sending various articles against his medically prescribed diet i.e. mango, sweets, aloo puri etc.,” the judge said.

The court said it was apparent that the jail authorities have a well-developed infrastructure for providing requisite health care to the inmates.

“This court also finds itself in agreement with the submissions that the applicant cannot be treated differently from other inmates as laws/ jail manual must apply equally to all,” the judge said.

She said though it shall continue to be the primary duty of Tihar Jail authorities, “who are stated to be fully equipped to take care of the health of the Applicant”, to ensure that all requisite medical treatment is provided to him in jail, in the event of any requirement for specialised consultation, “the Jail Authorities shall consult the Medical Board to be constituted by Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), comprising of a Senior Endocrinologist/ Diabetologist”.

“The said Medical Board is further requested to prescribe a diet and exercise plan, if required, for the Applicant considering his medical requirements and relevant data regarding his vital statistics. The Medical Board may, as and when required, also physically examine the Applicant in Jail,” the judge said.

The judge asked the medical board to submit its report to the court at the earliest specifying as to whether Kejriwal required insulin to control his blood sugar levels.

In the order, the judge noted that the jail authorities also offered no explanation whatsoever as to why the food items, which were not as per the order of the court and the medical prescription of the applicant, were allowed to be sent to him in the first place.

“The fact that jail authorities have an entire list of home cooked food received by the applicant clearly shows that they were all along aware about the diet he was receiving. The jail administration neither brought the said non¬compliance of the order to the notice of this court, nor took any steps to ensure that the applicant does not consume those food items which were not prescribed by his doctor,” the judge said.

She added there was no data either in the response of the jail authorities or in Kejriwal’s application as to how much home cooked food was returned unconsumed by the applicant.