A Bombay High Court bench of Justice Prakash D Naik on Wednesday concluded the hearing and reserved its order on a plea by DHFL promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan against a special CBI court order, which had directed him to be shifted to state-run JJ Hospital from a private hospital in Mumbai, where he has been lodged for the last 15 months. The court will pronounce its verdict on Friday.
Wadhawan was arrested by the CBI in 2020 in connection with the Yes Bank case. He was later placed under arrest by the ED.
The special CBI judge had, last month, directed the superintendent of Taloja Central Jail to shift Wadhawan to J J Hospital. It had also sought an explanation from the superintendent on how Wadhawan was shifted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital without its permission. The court had passed the order in response to CBI’s plea, stating that there was no medical exigency to keep Wadhawan in the private hospital for 15 months.
Earlier, another court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which was hearing a plea in the ED case against Wadhawan, was told that the private hospital has proposed that Wadhawan needs to undergo a surgery, as he is suffering from severe nasal congestion and has difficulty in breathing.
During Wednesday’s hearing, J J Hospital submitted Wadhawan’s medical report, enumerating his ailments. It said that before undergoing nasal surgery, a nasal endoscopy has to be conducted to ascertain whether the surgery was required.
Senior advocates Amit Desai and Aabad Ponda, representing Wadhawan, submitted that their client was apprehensive about being treated at J J Hospital. “What are those extraordinary circumstances that the agency is refusing treatment at a private hospital, except for the common man’s views about the case…,” Desai argued.
He added that since his client is continuously on blood thinners, he cannot take a nasal test which requires him to be off blood thinners for a certain duration, and his right to life and personal liberty should also be considered by the court.
However, advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, representing CBI, opposed the plea and said that no prejudice has been caused to the petitioner by the special CBI court order as there has been “no break in his medical treatment and there is no change of circumstances”.
Venegaonkar added that agency had requested a medical board for assessing Wadhawan’s health and J J Hospital is well equipped to conduct a nasal surgery. However, Wadhawan is avoiding treatment at state-run hospital, he said.
The High Court will pass its order on Wadhawan’s plea on Friday.
