Agartala: A division bench of the Tripura High Court has upheld the decision of the single bench and directed the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh to the family of a man who died during imprisonment due to lack of proper treatment.
Justice Subhasish Talapatra in January 2018 had directed the state government to pay the compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim’s family and advised the Jail authority to raise a corpus fund for treating the ailing convicts on emergency basis and improving the healthcare facilities.
The state government did not accept the order and moved an appeal petition, which was rejected by the division bench comprising Justice Arindam Lodh and Justice S G Chattopadhyay, who in an order issued on Saturday directed the government to comply with the direction of the previous court and pay the amount to the victim.
The victim’s advocate Samarjit Bhattacharjee said Chandan Dey (35), a resident of West Tripura district, was convicted for 18 months on the charge of rash and negligent driving in 2016.
Sometime in April 2017, he had fallen ill in Agartala Central Jail, but was not provided adequate treatment.
Dey was shifted to Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) in a critical state on June 9, 2017. But as his condition continued to deteriorate, he was referred to SSKM hospital Kolkata on June 19, with the doctor advising the jail authorities to shift him at the earliest.
However, the prison authorities couldn’t shift him to Kolkata immediately as they did not get the approval from the government for the expenditure.
On June 23, 2017, Chandan died in AGMC, which triggered a row across the state. His wife moved the high court alleging negligence and delay in providing treatment has caused her husband’s death.