Plea seeking CBI probe into Covid deaths is premature: Delhi govt

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The Delhi government has opposed an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the death of 21 patients due to alleged lack of oxygen at north Delhi’s Jaipur Golden Hospital in April 2021, saying the demand was “premature” and the claims by the families of victims were not substantiated with evidence.

Eight families approached the court in May last year claiming that the deaths at the Jaipur Golden Hospital on the intervening night of April 23-24 took place due to shortage of oxygen, and not due to co-morbidities as the Delhi government said in a report.

Besides seeking a CBI enquiry, the families also sought seizure of the CCTV footage and other records from the hospital. It also sought action against officials who were coordinating in supplying oxygen to various hospitals and nursing homes across the city.

In an affidavit filed on December 8, 2021 in response to the petition, the Delhi government said it has set up a committee to assess complaints and representations for compensation on a case to case basis. It said that the next of kin should approach the high powered committee rather than approaching the court.

The government also opposed the seizure of CCTV footage from the hospital’s Covid-19 ward, saying it would be a violation of the privacy of the patients who were admitted during the same period. “Having gone through a period of immense suffering, the patients and their families have a reasonable expectation of privacy and this must be respected,” the affidavit said.

The government also said that no action could be taken against the officers who were co-ordinating and managing the oxygen supply in the city on the basis of unsubstantiated claims. “It is submitted that the said officers performed the Herculean task of arranging, co-ordinating and putting in place a mechanism to ensure that oxygen, which was admittedly in short supply during the second wave of the pandemic, was provided to all hospitals and nursing homes. These officers worked ceaselessly during this period and devoted all their energies towards proving a timely and structured response in each and every case,” the government said in the affidavit.

The affidavit, filed through advocate Gautam Narayan, said that the petition involved disputed questions of fact which cannot be inquired into the first instance by the high court.

The government submitted that more than 25,000 families of people who died of Covid in Delhi have been granted Rs50,000 ex-gratia under the under the Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Arthik Sahayta Yojana. Of the total beneficiaries of the scheme, over 20,000 families have also been chosen to receive an additional aid of 50,000 from the Delhi Disaster Response Fund.

The Delhi government in November reconstituted a six-member panel tasked with investigating deaths due to shortage of oxygen during the second wave of the Covid pandemic.

The committee, which was initially constituted on May 27, never took off as the Delhi lieutenant governor did not approve it. But, the Delhi high court in September allowed the constitution of an expert committee to probe the deaths related to oxygen shortage, stating that its function will not overlap with another Supreme Court sub-committee that was tasked with understanding what led to the shortage of oxygen, and what could be done to prevent such a situation in future. The overlapping of the brief of the two committees was cited as one of the reasons by the LG office for not granting the approval.

In their plea, the eight families have contended complete inaction and failure of the state government to provide adequate supply of oxygen despite knowing that any shortage would immediately cause the death of Covid-19 patients.

It alleged that the report prepared by Delhi government’s committee is “erroneous and has been prepared to favour the Delhi government”. “..the cause of the death of the deceased has been mentioned as respiratory failure by the doctors for the reason that proper oxygen supply was not given to the deceased on time. It is the case of the hospital that when the oxygen supply did not come on time the deceased were put on oxygen cylinders, however, the requisite pressure was not there and due to same, the patients died while suffocating for oxygen,” the plea read.


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