INX Media case: Delhi HC asks AIIMS to form medical board for opinion on Chidambaram health

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait said that Hyderabad-based gastroenterologist Nageshwar Reddy, who has been treating Chidambaram (74), be included in the board.

The court was hearing Chidambaram’s plea for six-day interim bail to enable him to get examined by Reddy, his regular doctor, at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) in Hyderabad.

Asking the AIIMS director to constitute the board by 4 pm, the judge said it should give its opinion especially on whether the Congress leader needs to be in sterile environment at the hospital. It also made clear that the board will meet at 7 pm, and if Reddy is unable to reach from Hyderabad, the board should sit on Friday at 10 am.

The court will hear the matter on Friday.

In his application, Chidambaram has claimed that he needs “urgent medical treatment for acute and persistent abdominal pain being experienced” by him since October 5 due to Crohn’s disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2017.

Justice Kait and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Chidambaram can be treated and shifted to a private ward in AIIMS, if the need arises, as the premier institute has the best doctors.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal insisted that Chidambaram be shifted from Tihar jail to a private ward in AIIMS on Thursday. But Mehta said the doctors who examined the leader on Wednesday did not advise admitting him to hospital.

Annoyed over Mehta’s response, Sibal said he is withdrawing the plea and he was “surprised that this government does not want to give a sterile environment to a person”.

“Okay, the application is dismissed as withdrawn,” the judge said, adding “this attitude is not right. An advocate of such a stature is behaving like this.”