Allahabad High Court directs Secretary state legal services authority to inspect the civil hospital and submit report

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, U.P Lucknow to immediately proceed and inspect the Civil Hospital specially the “lawaris ward” and submit a report to the Court.

The Division Bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Jyotsna Sharma passed this order while hearing a PIL filed by Jyoti Rajpoot.

By means of the public interest litigation a very serious issue has been raised, depicting the pathetic condition existing in Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Civil) Hospital, Lucknow (the Civil Hospital).

It is submitted by petitioner that she saw an aged person namely Suraj Chandra Bhatt who was raggedly dressed and was naked below the waist and was vegetative/paralyzed state and was repeatedly passing stool and fetid smell/odor was disseminating from his body due to not bathing from many months.

It is in such condition that petitioner called medical emergency number ‘108’ and took the said abandoned person to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Civil) Hospital, Lucknow, where she admitted the said person under her own initials on 29.05.2023 in emergency ward, but when the petitioner visited the person in Civil Hospital on 30.05.2023, she found that patient was in same condition as she had left him. Even the bed was soiled and no person had even examined him.

It is next submitted that subsequently the said patient has been shifted from Emergency Ward to “Lawaris Ward” of the Civil Hospital where conditions are extremely pathetic.

It is submitted that there were six other patients who were in paralyzed state and one patient was semi paralyzed. Surprisingly all six patients were soiled in their bed and odor was also disseminating from their bodies and was spread over the entire “lawaris ward”.

It is also submitted that she informed the state of affairs to the authorities concerned at the Civil Hospital but no action has been taken till date.

“It is very surprising that in such a reputed hospital existing in the heart of State Capital where the state of “lawaris ward” is existing in such a deplorable state as has been informed by the petitioner”, the Court takes serious view of the aforesaid facts.

Accordingly, the Court directed the Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, U.P Lucknow to immediately proceed and inspect the Civil Hospital specially the “lawaris ward” and submit a report to the Court by 13.06.2023.

“In the meanwhile, the Additional Chief Standing Counsel shall immediately inform the Chief Medical Officer, Lucknow as well as Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, Lucknow of the cognizance having been taken by the Court and they are directed to proceed immediately to look into the grievance as raised by the petitioner in the Public Interest Litigation.

The Senior Registrar of this Court is directed to communicate the order to the Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, U.P Lucknow, forthwith”, the order reads.

The Court has fixed the next hearing of the petition on June 13, 2023.