High Court orders notice to T.N. govt., MIOT hospital

High Court orders notice to T.N. govt., MIOT hospital

 

PIL seeks criminal proceedings against government officials concerned and the management of MIOT Hospital for the death of 18 patients during the recent floods.

Admitting a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking criminal proceedings against government officials concerned and the management of MIOT Hospital here for the death of 18 patients during the recent floods, the Madras High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the State government, the Chennai Police Commissioner and hospital chairman P.V.A. Mohandas. The First Bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayanan posted the case to February 16.

The petitioner, ‘Traffic’ K.R. Ramaswamy, a social activist, alleged that the patients died due to the “wilful negligence” of the hospital management and government officials concerned. The hospital was flooded after a breach in the banks of the Adyar that damaged its power units, allegedly leading to the death of patients in its ICU on December 2 and 3.

Therefore, those responsible must be prosecuted on the charge of culpable homicide, he contended.

Alleging that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and the Chennai Corporation had approved the hospital’s building plan violating rules which prohibited construction of buildings within 100 metres of a waterbody, Mr. Ramaswamy prayed the court to direct the authorities to take immediate steps to demolish what he termed an “unauthorised construction” made by the hospital encroaching on the Adyar banks.

He alleged that on December 1, due to torrential rains, the river burst banks and entered the hospital, damaging its power units and generators.

Accusing police officers of failing to take action on his complaint against the hospital and others, the petitioner prayed the court to direct the authorities to take immediate steps to check the illegal construction and initiate criminal proceedings against the hospital and the authorities concerned.

The deaths first came to light as the media drew the attention of the public to the 14 bodies that were sent for post mortem to Government Royapettah Hospital on the morning of December 4, the Friday of the week that saw Chennai experience devastating floods.

Keywords: MIOT patients death