The ailing octogenarian was being treated at the private Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai.
Bhima Koregaon accused Stan Swamy on Monday passed away in Mumbai's Bandra Hospital, where he had been on a ventilator since Sunday, his lawyers said. He was 84.
Stan Swamy was being treated at the private Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai following an order by the Bombay High Court on May 28.
Senior advocate Mihir Desai, who was representing him, brought the development to the notice of the Bombay High Court bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamdar when the bail plea came up for hearing this afternoon.
"It is with a very heavy heart I have to inform you that Fr Stan Swamy has passed away," said Dr Ian D'Souza, the doctor treating him at the Holy Family Hospital, informed the court.
The ailing octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist was expecting release on medical bail. He had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 30. On Sunday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directed the Maharashtra chief secretary to ensure that every possible effort was made to provide the 84-year-old jailed rights activist Stan Swamy with proper medical care and treatment as part of life-saving measure and protection of his basic human rights.
The Commission had also called for a report in the light of the allegations made in the complaint and the treatment record of Fr Swamy lodged in Taloja Jail, Navi Mumbai.
Early on Saturday, Swamy had suffered cardiac arrest and was shifted to the ICU but could not be revived and breathed his last around 1.30 p.m. on Monday.
The court expressed its "shock" over the news while it was preparing to hear his bail plea and directed that the authorities place his autopsy and medical papers on record since he died in custody.
"With all humility at our command, we are sorry to learn that he has passed away. We are shocked," said the bench.
There was a massive outpour of grief and sympathy on social media for Father Swamy and condemnation of the government by various groups and Left leaders, as the news broke out.
Stan Swamy, an accused in the January 2018 Bhima -Koegaon case was arrested from Ranchi on October 9, 2020. The High court was scheduled to hear his bail plea on Tuesday.
Violence erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen. The police had filed 58 cases against 162 people during a state-wide shutdown in January following clashes in Bhima-Koregaon.
(With agency inputs)
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