Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy is on oxygen support at Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai.

Director of the Bangalore-based Indian Social Institute, Father Joe Xavier, who is coordinating with the Jesuits on Father Swamy, told The Telegraph that the octogenarian was admitted to the hospital around 9.50pm on Friday.

“He was admitted to the hospital following Bombay High Court’s intervention. We are happy that the court has understood his health condition and the need for urgent medical treatment. He has been put on oxygen support as he was having problem in breathing and is currently in the ICU. He is stable, but could not recognise even persons who had been closely associated with him. The hospital authorities will issue a bulletin about his health condition after a detailed examination on Saturday,” Father Xavier said.

In a videoconference with the judges of Bombay High Court, Father Swamy had refused hospitalisation and pleaded for interim bail to go to Ranchi to be with his people.

However, as his health condition deteriorated, Father Swamy agreed to be hospitalised after his lawyer and senior advocate of Bombay High Court Mihir Desai, with the court’s permission, spoke to him through the counsel call facility.

“He is unable to stand, walk and eat without helpers,” Father Xavier added.

Earlier on Friday, the court directed the Maharashtra government to transfer Father Swamy, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, to the Holy Family Hospital from Taloja Central Jail.

In an urgent hearing, Desai told a division bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.R. Borkar that Father Swamy’s condition was not improving.

In a call made by Father Swamy to his close associate Father Joseph Xavier he had said his blood pressure was dropping and he continued to feel weak. Desai told the court that Father Swamy had agreed to move to a private hospital and would bear his own expenses.

“We will press for the interim bail after the high court reopens in June,” Desai told The Telegraph.

On May 21, another bench of the high court suggested that Father Swamy be admitted to the government-managed JJ Hospital for a few days. However, after his general condition worsened, the court directed that he be sent to the Holy Family Hospital for two weeks.

Father Swamy was arrested on October 8, 2020 by a team of National Investigation Agency from his home in Namkum, Ranchi, and taken to Mumbai’s Taloja Central Jail.

Father Swamy along with 15 others have been arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.