Mumbai: Bombay high court has permitted Delhi University’s associate professor Hany Babu to be shifted to Breach Candy Hospital for medical treatment. He was one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.Hany Babu moved the high court on Wednesday morning, seeking medical aid for an eye infection he developed after contracting COVID-19. The high court said that Babu should be shifted to Breach Candy Hospital on Thursday under police protection. Charges for his treatment and prescribed medicines will be borne by him and his family.Hany Babu tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month and is currently undergoing treatment at the state-run G.T. Hospital in Mumbai. Last week, authorities of the Taloja Prison in Navi Mumbai brought him to J.J. Hospital, from where he was shifted to G.T. Hospital.His wife Jenny Rowena moved the high court on Wednesday morning, seeking interim bail and medical aid for him.Her counsel, senior advocate Yug Chaudhry, approached a vacation bench of Justice S.J. Kathawalla and Justice S.P, Tavade, seeking an urgent hearing on the ground that besides testing positive for the novel coronavirus, Babu had developed a severe eye infection and ran the risk of losing vision in his left eye.Also read: Hany Babu Is Guilty — Of Helping Students Develop an Interest in Language, Region and CultureChaudhry said that Babu must be checked to rule out the possibility of black fungus. Mucormycosis or black fungus, is a rare but serious infection which has been found in several COVID-19 patients.The bench accordingly summoned G.T. Hospital’s Dean Dr B.G. Chikhalkar, who appeared with other doctors via video conference and told the bench that Babu was being provided with adequate treatment.The court then asked for a video call to be arranged between the bench and Hany Babu. When Babu came on the line, he told the court that he was satisfied with the treatment at G.T. Hospital.“My eye is a little better now. I am satisfied,” he said.Hospital authorities told the high court that they were not equipped to carry out the MRI angiography test that had been recommended for Babu’s brain by J.J. Hospital. Advocate Chaudhry told the court that Babu also needed several other specialised tests to be conducted, and sought interim bail.“If the state can’t take care of me, let me take care of myself and my life,” Chaudhry argued.The court said that while it won’t grant bail to Babu, it could allow him to be shifted to a hospital of his choice. The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) counsel, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, opposed it and said the city-based J.J. Hospital, KEM Hospital and Nair Hospital were all equipped to treat Babu.“Otherwise, this will become a precedent and all prisoners will want to be shifted to private hospitals,” Singh said.The court, however, refused the submission.“Let the family get psychological satisfaction at least that he is being treated at a hospital of their choice, especially if they are footing the bill,” the court said. They said there is nothing wrong in making this a precedent, especially in the current situation.“That’s why we are asking him to pay the bill. We haven’t taken the Nanavati precedent and asked state to pay the bill,” the court said.It was referring to a previous high court order that had directed Nanavati Hospital (private) to bear the treatment cost of activist Varavara Rao, who is also an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.The court directed Breach Candy Hospital to submit Babu’s medical report in court by the next hearing on June 9, or whenever Babu is discharged from the hospital.According to his family and lawyer, Babu developed an acute eye infection on May 3, and is yet to receive appropriate medical care. Last week, his wife had said in a press conference that his family was struggling to get information from prison authorities and the NIA, which is conducting a probe into the case on his health condition.Babu was arrested by the NIA in July 2020.The Elgar Parishad case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial in the district.The Pune police claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists, the case was later taken over by the NIA.Several other activists, including Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao, had been arrested in the case.(PTI)