HC order vindicates our stand, Wangchuk’s hospitalisation detention: Gitanjali Angmo

NEW DELHI: Activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, on Tuesday welcomed the Delhi High Court’s order allowing him to be shifted from Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital, saying it reaffirmed a citizen’s fundamental right to choose their doctors and alleged that Wangchuk’s admission to the government hospital amounted to a “detention”.

She also alleged that Wangchuk was brought to Safdarjung Hospital by police rather than hospital staff and claimed that he was kept in the intensive care unit unnecessarily.

“We are very happy. This order came in record time. In India, a democratic citizen has the right to choose doctors and hospitals,” Angmo told reporters after the court proceedings.

“The way Sonam was brought in, it was the police, not hospital staff, and they kept him in ICU, which was not needed. In fact, hospitalisation was not needed. They did it because the rule is that no one can take electronic devices. It was a detention so that he can’t contact anyone,” she added.

Angmo maintained that while Wangchuk required medical monitoring after his prolonged fast, his condition was not life-threatening.

“His parameters, which are not normal, are not life-threatening… We are more concerned about his health than the government. It is our fundamental right to decide where we want to get treatment,” she said.

She also stressed that a patient’s mental well-being was an important aspect of treatment.

“(The) Mental state of (a) patient is more important. I am very happy the Delhi High Court has given a favourable order,” she said.

Earlier in the day, a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia proposed shifting Wangchuk to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram after the Centre informed the court that it had no objection to the transfer.

The court interacted with doctors from AIIMS, who are part of the team monitoring Wangchuk at Safdarjung Hospital, as well as Wangchuk’s personal doctor, and observed that there was a consensus that he required continued medical monitoring.

Angmo had challenged a single judge’s order refusing to interfere with Wangchuk’s treatment at Safdarjung Hospital, contending that he had effectively been confined there without any legal authority and that his family had been denied the right to choose his treatment.

Delhi Police forcibly shifted Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital in the early hours of July 19, on the 20th day of his indefinite hunger strike, which began on June 28, as part of the Cockroach Janta Party’s agitation over alleged examination irregularities.

Police have maintained that he was shifted on medical grounds and prior court directions.