The Gujarat High Court, sitting as a division bench comprising Justice Gita Gopi and Justice LS Pirzada, issued an order on 17 July 2026 calling for a report from the jail authorities concerning the medical condition of Narayan Sai. Sai is presently serving a life sentence imposed by the Surat sessions court following his conviction for rape in 2019. The order was passed while hearing Sai’s application for temporary bail on medical grounds.
The bench noted that the applicant had sought temporary bail alleging deteriorating health that warranted immediate medical attention outside prison premises. In its order, the court observed that before any determination on the plea could be made, it required contemporaneous medical evidence from the prison medical officer and the concerned jail superintendent. The court therefore directed the jail authorities to submit a comprehensive report detailing Sai’s current health status, the nature of any ailments, the treatment being administered within the jail hospital, and whether any specialised medical facility outside the prison is necessary for his care.
The court further clarified that the report should include the opinion of the jail’s medical board regarding the feasibility of providing adequate treatment within the prison infrastructure and any recommendations for temporary release should the medical condition be deemed serious enough to warrant interim relief. The bench emphasized that the report must be filed within a stipulated period, failing which the matter would be listed for further directions for consideration of the plea on the basis of the available record.
In explaining the rationale behind seeking the report, the bench referred to the settled principle that temporary bail on medical grounds cannot be granted solely on the basis of the applicant’s assertions; it must be substantiated by objective medical evidence. The court highlighted that the life sentence imposed on Sai entails a strict custodial regime, and any deviation from that regime, even temporarily, requires judicial satisfaction that the applicant’s health condition genuinely necessitates such relief.
The order also noted that Sai had previously been released on temporary bail in September 2025, a fact that the bench took into account while assessing the need for fresh medical evaluation. The court observed that the intervening period may have witnessed changes in his health status, thereby necessitating an updated report before any further consideration of bail.
By directing the jail authorities to furnish the report, the Gujarat High Court sought to ensure that any decision on the temporary bail application is grounded in verifiable medical facts rather than speculative assertions. The bench made it clear that the subsequent hearing on the bail plea will be contingent upon the receipt and examination of the said report, and that the parties will be afforded an opportunity to address the contents of the report before the court passes a final order.
The development underscores the court’s cautious approach in balancing the rights of a convicted individual seeking medical relief with the imperative to uphold the integrity of the sentence awarded by the trial court. The matter remains pending awaiting the jail authorities’ response, after which the division bench will proceed to determine whether the medical condition of Narayan Sai satisfies the legal threshold for granting temporary bail.