YESTERDAY, the Delhi High Court passed an Order directing that activist Sonam Wangchuk be shifted immediately to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, after doctors flagged concerns over his declining health, including a low total leukocyte count and abnormal potassium levels in his blood. The decision came a day after the protest march in which Wangchuk was set to participate.
The appeal arose from an order passed on July 19, in which Justice Mini Pushkarna declined to grant similar interim relief and held that the activist’s forcible removal from the protest site at Jantar Mantar and his subsequent transfer to the hospital did not constitute arbitrary action. The High Court had also observed that the assessment of Wangchuk’s medical condition would ultimately rest with the medical team treating him.
Submissions before the Court
On Tuesday, the bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia examined medical reports and heard directly from the medical team from AIIMS and Wangchuk’s regular physician who the family had been consulting before his uprooting from the protest site. It was observed that potassium levels were low; while there was a rise in levels of uric acid and blood urea.
Dr. Satish Lamba, who was monitoring Wangchuk's health for 20 days, told the High Court that these changes were expected physiological effects of prolonged fasting as the body shifts from glucose to fat for energy and does not indicate immediate threat to life. The doctor also informed the High Court that he was not allowed to meet Wangchuk at Safdargunj.
