New Delhi: On Independence Day eve, Delhi high court provided relief to an HIV-positive BSF constable who, along with his wife and child, has been undergoing treatment in the capital by granting his plea to suspend his transfer from Delhi to West Bengal.

“On the eve of India’s Independence Day, when the entire nation is in the mood for celebrating freedom, we are confronted with a case which spells gloom but hopefully not doom of a government servant who has served the nation in defending its borders as a constable in Border Security Force ,” a division bench of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice Najmi Waziri said while staying the union government’s decision of July 28 last year.

The court observed that transfer at this crucial stage of his treatment would, not only lead to serious logistical problems associated with his shifting from Delhi, but also jeopardize their treatment and could even threaten their lives. “This is indeed a most compelling and unfortunate case. The constable and his family comprising his wife and a minor child are HIV positive,” the bench said.

Constable Sunil Kumar in the Border Security Force (BSF) is HIV positive. His wife, too, was detected with AIDS in the year 2009. He was transferred from Tripura to Delhi on medical grounds.

After his transfer to Delhi, he was shocked to find that his minor child was also HIV positive. The hospital advised Kumar to stay back in Delhi for the next six months for his follow-up treatment. Kumar and his wife are undergoing their treatment at RML Hospital, while his child was being treated at Kalawati Saran Hospital.

The court directed that treatment of Kumar and his family shall continue in Delhi while staying the transfer order. The court said that being HIV positive carries with it an “unwarranted stigma and social ostracization”; therefore, the government should not only counter such unwarranted stigma and prejudice but also fund research for better cure. “The need is immediate,” the bench said.

“A human life is paramount. Such cases deserve to be considered with due care, compassion and an appreciation of all the facts relating to it.”

Kumar’s plea said that even in these trying circumstances he has been transferred to 102 Battalion at Baikunthpur, West Bengal, and if he is made to join the post then the family’s treatment will get adversely affected.

