Gorakhpur hospital deaths: PIL in Allahabad High Court seeks probe by retired judge, CBI

Source – indianexpress.com

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) asking for a retired judge to probe the deaths of over 60 children suffering from encephalitis in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College and Hospital was submitted to the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday.

Social activists and lawyers made a mention of the PIL to the Chief Justice on Wednesday, after which it was decided by the court that the matter will be heard out of turn on Thursday. Several other similar PILs have been filed, slated to be heard later this month.

Alleging negligence by government agencies, the petition, filed by social activists including Utpala Shukla of the PUCL among others, urges the court to facilitate an impartial and independent investigation by a retired High Court judge and the CBI.

Making the state government and Centre parties to the case, the petitioners’ counsel K K Roy said, “We have raised the issue of the lack of proper investigation because the state government, which is currently investigating the case, has been denying a case of negligence. We are also raising the issue of lack of medical equipment and infrastructure at the BRD hospital, which has not been upgraded for years.”

The petition said, “More than 62 patients especially children died in BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, and the reason told was due to the discontinuance of the oxygen supply.”

“The deaths of the children year to year are due to criminal neglect of the state government and health department, as most of the patients are children from rural and poor background,” it further stated.
The petitioners pegged the number of lives claimed by encephalitis at over a lakh since 1978, when it was first detected in Gorakhpur.