Bombay HC Has Initiated Suo Motu Proceedings Concerning Multiple Deaths In Nanded Hospital

On October 4, the Bombay High Court, acting on its own accord (suo motu), acknowledged the occurrence of 35 deaths, including infants, in a government-operated hospital in Maharashtra's Nanded district. The court emphasized that such incidents would not be acceptable if they resulted from a deficiency in staff and a scarcity of medication.

This observation was made by a division bench consisting of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Arif Doctor following a request by advocate Mohit Khanna. Mr. Khanna had expressed his concerns in a letter addressed to the court, highlighting the 31 deaths, including infant fatalities, that had occurred since September 30 at the Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospitals in Nanded, as well as at least 14 deaths at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Government Hospital on October 2.

On October 5, the court requested initial information on the matter from Advocate General Birendra Saraf. The bench emphasized that it cannot tolerate deaths resulting from a shortage of staff and medicines. Mr. Saraf committed to gathering comprehensive information about the events and the circumstances surrounding them.

The court said: “We want to issue effective orders. We are requesting you to file a petition. Gather data regarding the vacancy in the hospital, availability of medicine, the percentage the government is spending and so on," as reported by The Hindu.

The letter also made reference to a report concerning an incident at the Thane Municipal Corporation-managed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial Hospital in Kalwa. In that incident, 18 patients had tragically passed away within a span of 24 hours in August of this year. Mr. Khanna pointed out that the hospitals, in their statements, had attributed the primary cause of these deaths to a shortage of beds, doctors, and essential medications. He asserted that such circumstances were in violation of Article 21 (Right to life) of the Constitution.

Responding to these distressing incidents in state-run hospitals, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated, “The guilty will be punished after the findings of the probe committee. We have taken serious cognisance of these incidents and sent a team of a minister, secretary, and officers to visit the hospitals in Nanded and Ghati in Aurangabad and submit a report.”