Treat arrested Minister at Command Hospital till Nov 8: Calcutta HC

Kolkata, Nov 2 (IANS) Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Madhuresh Prasad on Thursday directed Kolkata-based and defence-run Command Hospital to allow the necessary treatment of West Bengal Minister Jyotipriya Mallick there till the latter’s current term of Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody ends on November 8.

The judge ordered that till that time the ED sleuths will be able to take the arrested minister to Command Hospital in South Kolkata for regular medical check-up. The single- judge bench also directed that the necessary treatment of Mallick during the interim period can also be conducted at Command Hospital only.

However, Justice Prasad, added that a plea for Command Hospital authorities seeking relief from the responsibility of Mallick treatment at a later stage, might be considered only after November 8, when the latter will be presented at a special court in Kolkata.

Mallick, the current West Bengal forest minister and former state food & supplies minister was arrested by the ED last week in connection with the multi- crore ration distribution irregularities case in the state. He is currently in the custody of the central agency at the latter’s Salt Lake office in the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

A special court in Kolkata had last week directed that the necessary treatment of Mallick be done at the Command Hospital during his custody period, which started from Monday evening. However, the Command Hospital authorities had last week approached the same special court seeking revision of the order.

The hospital authorities argued that since they are already under a lot of pressure in managing the treatment of present and former defence personnel and their family members, not only from West Bengal but also from several northeastern states, they are unable to bear the additional burden of the minister’s treatment.

However, the special court rejected the plea for reconsideration of the previous order.

On Wednesday, the Command Hospital authorities approached the Calcutta High Court against the special court order, the hearing for which came up on Thursday.