The former minister has challenged the March 6 order that had directed the J J Hospital to submit the medical reports of his stay to Shailesh Gandhi, a social activist.
Maharashtra’s former minister for Forest and Environment Surupsinh Naik locked horns with the State Information Commission (SIC) on Wednesday when he challenged the March 6 order of a full bench that had directed the J J Hospital to submit the medical reports of Naik’s stay in May 2006 to Shailesh Gandhi, a social activist. Naik’s move comes on a day when the one-week notice period given to authorities at the JJ Hospital ended.
The court has adjourned the case till March 16 when it will hear arguments from the state and the SIC.
Contending that the SIC order was “perverse” and not “tenable in law”, Naik in his petition which was heard by the HC on Wednesday, states that the medical report sought by the applicant is not a public document and should therefore not be disclosed.
Further, Naik said, “Providing such information under the Right to Information Act defies its own provisions as the consent of a third-party individual is necessary before any information relating to me is disclosed. It is, therefore, an infringement on my right to privacy.” Moreover, Gandhi is in no way concerned with him or even the imprisonment imposed on him. He has said that information regarding his medical records should not be provided unless it directly affects the life of another person as in case of HIV or contagious diseases
Stating that it was important to strike a balance between individual policy and larger public good, Justices FI Rebello and RM Sawant remarked, “The citizen has a right to know about certain individuals and whether the hospital and jail authorities have acted in a bona fide fashion.”
Reacting to Naik’s legal move in the court, activist Shailesh Gandhi said, “A convict is not a private person and his medical records become public. Details of a powerful convict admitted to the hospital for weeks together should be made public, as it’s the issue of larger public interest.”
While the hospital authorities have decided to seek legal opinion over the argument on whether to make the medical reports of Surupsingh Naik public, Dr Arun Pol, medical superintendent of JJ Hospital told DNA, “We received a copy of the Commission’s order to hand over Naik’s report to Gandhi on March 12. So by that date, we still have four days to abide by the orders of the information commissioner.” Pol claimed that Naik had requested against his medical reports to be made public, though no such record of denial was told during RTI appeal hearing before the Information Commissioner.
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