Srinagar, June 25 (UNI) National Conference leader and Member Parliament Ruhullah Mehdi has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking immediate and dignified medical treatment for jailed separatist leader Shabir Shah, who is battling life-threatening illness.
In the letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, the Srinagar MP said that Shabir Shah is now 70 years old and by every humane and legal standard he is entitled to medical treatment with dignity and fairness.
“His doctors have recommended three surgeries for serious medical conditions which include life-threatening prostate cancer. Despite the gravity of his condition, he remains incarcerated since 2017, without family support,” the MP noted.
“ During his medical visit to Safdarjung Hospital on May 1, 2025, his family has alleged that he was subjected to harassment and degrading treatment by escorting officers, and that access to his medical records has also been withheld from them,” Ruhullah said
He said that the country has legal and moral obligations, under both its Constitution and international treaties to ensure that prisoners are treated with humanity.
“Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a party, mandates that prisoners must be "treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." The Nelson Mandela Rules (Rules 24 and 26) mandate that prisoners must receive the same standard of health care available to the general population. In Shabir Shah's case, one can quote multiple such obligations that appear to have directly been contravened,” he said.
Ruhullah said there are clear precedents in domestic law in support of fair medical treatment of undertrials.
The MP pointed out that Zahoor Watali and Gautam Navlakha were both granted house arrest on medical and humanitarian grounds by Indian courts.
“These decisions acknowledged that incarceration must not come at the cost of life and dignity, particularly when there is no proven risk of escape or subversion. Why the same consideration can't be extended to Mr. Shah, whose legal status remains that of an undertrial, is a question his family has constantly raised,” he added.
Ruhullah urge Home Minister to ensure that Shabir Shah is provided dignified medical care in a facility equipped for cancer treatment.
“This process must involve his family in all medical decisions, as permitted by law,” he said in the letter. “The measure of a nation is how it treats its weakest. Let us not fail that test.”
Separatist leader Shabir Shah, has been in jail since 2017. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in July 2017. In 2019, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took his custody in an alleged terror funding case. He is presently lodged in Tihar Jail.
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