Death of COVID patients due to lack of oxygen is no less than genocide: HC

Allahabad High Court reprimanded Uttar Pradesh government

Allahabad High Court has said that due to non-supply of oxygen to hospitals, death of COVID-19 patients is a crime and is not less than a massacre. According to the Bar and Bench, the court said this on Tuesday, reprimanding the Uttar Pradesh government and the state authorities.

On the basis of social media reports, a bench of justices Ajit Kumar and Siddharth Verma have ordered an inquiry into the incidents of deaths that came out of hospitals in Meerut and Lucknow.

The bench said, “We have found that it is necessary to give instructions for immediate measures to be taken by the government.” The District Magistrate, Lucknow and District Magistrate, Meerut are directed to investigate the matter of such news items within 48 hours and present their report on the next scheduled date.

The Allahabad High Court said,

• “We are sad to see that due to lack of oxygen supply to hospitals, COVID patients are dying.” It is a criminal act and it is nothing short of a massacre by those who have been tasked to ensure the continuous purchase and supply of liquid medical oxygen. ”
• “When science has advanced so much that these days heart transplantation and brain surgery are being done, how can we allow our people to die in this way.”

The court found that in the stories that have gone viral on social media, poor citizens have been begging for oxygen cylinders to save the lives of their close ones, while they were harassed by the district administration and the police administration.

The court said, “Usually we do not ask the state and district administration to investigate such news which has gone viral on social media, but the lawyers presented in this PIL are supporting such news, so our government should immediately It is necessary to ask for action in this regard.

‘Heavy violation of COVID guidelines during counting of Gram Panchayat elections’

During the hearing, the court was told that the news of the death of five patients went viral on social media due to lack of oxygen in the ICU of the new trauma center of Meerut Medical College last Sunday. Similarly, the absence of oxygen supply in Sun Hospital and another private hospital in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, is also reported on social media for doctors to make their own arrangements with COVID patients.

On the death of Allahabad High Court judge VK Srivastava from infection, the court said, “We have been told that Justice Srivastava was admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow on the morning of 23 April but was not taken care of till evening. As the condition worsened at 7:30 pm, he was put on ventilator and on the same night he was taken to SGPGI where he remained in ICU for five days and died prematurely due to corona infection. ”

The court asked Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal to file an affidavit to explain what treatment Srivastava received at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and why he was not taken to SGPGI on 23 April itself.

On illegally seized oxygen cylinders, Remedisvir injections / pills and oximeters kept in the consignment, the court said that keeping these things in the consignment is not in public interest in any way because they will all go bad. On this, Goyal said that he will raise this issue in front of the state government, so that they can be properly used and they do not go waste.

During the hearing, the court was told that during the counting of gram panchayat elections in the state, the COVID guidelines were severely violated, people gathered in large numbers at the counting sites and the election officials and police remained mute spectators.

On this, the court directed the State Election Commission to present CCTV footage of counting centers in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Agra on 7 May 2021, the next date of hearing.