The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a cancer patient’s bail plea after a medical panel said he was receiving the best possible treatment and did not need a referral to a private hospital.

Aasu Jaif was arrested in Rajasthan last year for alleged possession of Rs 23 lakh in counterfeit money. He has since then been at the Jaipur Central Jail, awaiting trial.

He had applied for bail, pleading he needed better treatment and that, being in an advanced stage of oral cancer, he wanted to spend his time with his family, particularly his mother.

The vacation bench of Justices Indu Malhotra and Ajay Rastogi went through a medical report from the Birla Cancer Centre, Sawai Man Singh Hospital, Jaipur, and found no merit in Jaif’s plea.

Sensing the court’s mood, Jaif’s counsel sought permission to withdraw the petition.

The bench then passed the following order: “Learned counsel for the petitioner, on instructions, prays for leave to withdraw this special leave petition along with pending application(s) therein. Leave granted. The special leave petition and pending applications are dismissed as withdrawn.”

On May 28, another vacation bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Aniruddha Bose had, while seeking a reply from the Rajasthan government on Jaif’s petition, asked for a report on his medical condition from the Jaipur hospital.

During the earlier hearing, Jaif’s counsel had claimed his client was not getting proper treatment and had become emaciated in jail, having undergone radiotherapy for eight months.

Jaif had approached the apex court after Rajasthan High Court declined to entertain his bail plea.