Sukh Ram was reportedly admitted to hospital on Saturday though it is unclear whether he is there for routine checks including an angiogram or because his condition has deteriorated.
The former minister has told government officials that he experienced chest pains soon after arriving in Britain and that he was briefly hospitalised at the time. He also claimed that doctors here have advised two weeks' bed rest. However, he said he was determined to return to India before this period to clear misunderstandings.
Sukh Ram has said that doctors at St Luke's Hospital in the US have told him that his heart condition has worsened and that he may need a second bypass. Sukh Ram, who is 67, underwent a heart bypass surgery in Houston, Texas last year.
On Friday, Sukh Ram declared that he would return to India in the next two weeks and begin a battle to clear his name. He said that the money recovered from his house did not belong to him. He also issued a veiled threat that he would give the name when he got back.
Over the past few days, the former minister has played a calculated game to stay one step ahead of the government. For several days as speculation mounted about his whereabouts he lay low in his daughter's house at Southend-on-Sea, an English coastal town.
He broke his silence by getting his son-in-law, Sohan Lal Vasisht, to phone the Indian High Commission in London on August 23. Vasisht initially said that his father-in-law would return to India within two days.
Last Monday, Vasisht phoned government officials to say that Sukh Ram had been unable to meet specialists because of a series of holidays in Britain. He said that Sukh Ram would nevertheless return to India in the first week of September. The former communications minister's latest statement was that he would return to India swiftly despite his doctors' advice to the contrary.
Government officials reiterate that they are determined to get him back to India as quickly as possible.
However, they say that precipitate action like revoking his passport could lead to lengthy court battles. They say it is better to allow the former minister to return of his own accord.
