Dr Sudhakar Rao in police or judicial custody? HC asks AP

After receiving a hard knock on the knuckles of the AP government in Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, the Jagan government received another blow in Dr Sudhakar Rao’s case.

Hearing a petition filed by Dr Sudhakar Rao who is confined to the government mental hospital in Vizag, the High Court on Friday asked the state government to clarify if the doctor was in the police or judicial custody. Further, the court raised serious apprehensions about the medical treatment being given to Dr Sudhakar Rao and directed the state government to ensure that the doctor gets best of treatment. To this, the government assured the court that Dr Sudhakar Rao will be given good care and treatment. The government counsel sought two days time to submit a detailed report. “What is the guarantee that there won’t be any problem to the doctor’s health in these two days,” the court questioned the state counsel.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Dr Sudhakar Rao who moved the High Court appealing the court to give a directive to the state government to shift him to another hospital. In the petition, Dr Sudhakar Rao said doctors at the mental hospital in Vizag were administering wrong medicines, medicines that are used to treat insane patient. He also listed the medicines that were being administered including Calmpose and Haloperidol. Haloperidol is an antipsychotic medicine that is used to treat schizophrenia. He said the medicines have caused serious side-effects. The High Court had already directed the CBI to probe the highhandedness of the police.

Dr Sudhakar Rao was suspended as civil surgeon from the Narsipatnam government hospital. In a move that is seen as vendetta, the doctor was arrested on charges of drunk driving. He was dragged on the streets, his shirt removed, his both hands tied with a rope while a constable repeatedly delivered blows with his lathi.

On Friday, Dr Sudhakar Rao’s mother Kaveri Rao visited the Government Mental Hospital and expressed fears that her son’s life was at a grave risk. She demanded that her son be shifted to another hospital. Lashing out at the state government for illegal confinement of her son in a mental hospital, Kaveri Rao said it is unfortunate that the ruling dispensation has attributed political motives to her son for raising his voice against the shortage of medical equipment in government hospitals.