I-Day gift: High Court stays transfer of HIV-positive BSF constable

The Constable is HIV-positive while his wife suffers from AIDS. Their child is also HIV-positive. According to the plea filed before the High Court, the constable was transferred to Delhi on medical grounds to allow him and his family get proper treatment for their condition. However, in July, the constable received transfer orders to West Bengal.

In his plea before the court, the constable, through advocate Kamal Katyan, argued that the hospital where he and his wife are being treated has advised him to stay in Delhi for six more months for further treatment.

“If he is made to join the said post, then the treatment of the petitioner and his entire family will be adversely affected putting their lives in jeopardy,” the court noted.

“Human life is paramount. Such cases deserve to be considered with due care, compassion and an appreciation of all facts relating to it. The state is expected not only to safeguard human life but also to provide best medical care to its countless citizens suffering from such afflictions, albeit within its financial means. The case of the petitioner is a prime example in which his family’s treatment should not be disturbed,” the court said in its order.

In its order issued on Wednesday, the court also observed that since the affliction of HIV carries an “unwarranted stigma and social ostracism”, there was  an “immediate need” to provide aid.

“Therefore, not only would it be incumbent upon the government to counter such unwarranted stigma and prejudice and to prevent instances of ostracizing of such patients, especially children afflicted by the disease…,” the court said.