In the summer of May 2022, relegated to his oblong-shaped high-security anda cell, GN Saibaba was frequently thirsty. The Delhi University professor, lodged in Nagpur Central Jail at the time, has post-polio paralysis in both legs. He had also lost the use of his left hand after a nerve injury he said he sustained during his arrest. As temperatures reached 45 degrees outside, Saibaba needed help every time he wanted a drink—his wheelchair did not reach the corner of the cell where the pot of water was kept. For three weeks, Saibaba kept requesting the jail authorities for a plastic water bottle that he could keep handy. They eventually agreed. A week later, his lawyer brought a one-litre bottle, but the authorities at the main gate refused to bring it in. When Saibaba’s lawyer told reporters about this, it caused a small furore. But just as swift, was the backlash….

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