The NIA has denied reports that it took 20 days to respond to 83-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy’s sipper request. Swamy, chargesheeted in the Elgar Parishad case for Maoist conspiracy in October, had accused the NIA of denying him a straw and a sipper in spite of Parkinson’s disease.
The NIA in a statement denied the allegations. Detailing the sequence of events, the agency said Swamy filed an application on November 6 in the special NIA court in Mumbai for getting back his straw and sipper. Swamy had alleged these were seized by NIA at the time of arrest.
“The court asked the agency to file its reply on next date, scheduled on 26/11/2020. NIA never sought any time as such, and to say that NIA sought 20 days time is false, incorrect and mischievous,” NIA spokesperson Sonia Narang told CNN-News18.
Narang added that the NIA duly filed its reply in court on November 26 stating it had conducted Swamy’s search in presence of independent witnesses and no such straw and sipper were found.
The NIA said the court rejected Swamy’s application against the agency and has ordered jail authorities to provide him a straw and a sipper. The court sought a reply from jail authorities on Swamy’s fresh plea for use of winter clothes, a straw and a sipper. The matter will be heard next on December 4.
“I cannot hold a glass as my hands are unsteady due to Parkinson’s,” Swamy, who is at Taloja Central Jail hospital, had said in his initial application before the court.
Parkinson’s disease is a debilitating disorder of the central nervous system that can cause involuntary tremors, or muscular spasms, which makes carrying out even routine actions like drinking difficult. Some patients may face problems while swallowing or chewing.
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