[Death Of Lady Advocate] Another Plea Filed In MP HC By MPHC Bar Association, Indore Seeking Action Against Erring Hospitals [Read Petition]

The Petition has been filed by 'The M.P. High Court Bar Association, Indore' (through Its Secretary Pankaj Sohani) through Advocate Lokesh R. Bhatnagar after the death of Advocate Achla Joshi due to the alleged negligence of two hospitals in the city.

The subject-matter of the Petition in brief

The petitioner association got to know from the various newspaper and also from the family members of Late Achla Joshi (who was the life member of the petitioner association) that because of the carelessness of the Respondent No.6 (The Bombay Hospital Indore) and 7 (The Aurobindo Institute of Medical Science), she could not get proper treatment in time and she died untimely.

It has been submitted by the petitioner association that on 05/09/2020 Late Achla Joshi was feeling uneasy, therefore, firstly she was immediately taken to the respondent No.6 Hospital i.e. Bombay Hospital, Indore (M.P.) but the administration of the said hospital refused to admit Late Achala Joshi and also denied to provide primary lifesaving medication in time to her.

The family members of Sushri Achla Joshi then immediately took her to another Hospital i.e. Respondent No.7's hospital (The Aurobindo Institute of Medical Science) but unfortunately, they also denied to admit Late Achala Joshi and also refused to provide primary treatment in time to her, however, after some time, when the respondent no. 7 Hospital got ready to provide treatment to Late Achla Joshi, it was found that she had died.

It has been further submitted that while she was being taken to The Bombay Hospital Indore, she was conscious, however, the respondent no.6 neither admitted her nor provided her with any primary lifesaving treatment and also refused to admit her in the hospital.

Similarly, Respondent No.7 Hospital also denied providing any treatment to her initially, however, after making so many requests, the hospital got ready to provide the primary treatment to her, however, the lady advocate had died by then.

The petitioner association has contended that if the Respondent No.6 and 7 had provided treatment in time to Late Achla Joshi, such unfortunate incident could have been averted.

Lastly, it has been alleged that the respondent No.6 and 7 are responsible for causing the death of Late Achla Joshi, therefore, strict action is required to be taken against the Respondent No.6 and 7.

Grounds for approaching the High Court (as mentioned in the Plea)

* The conduct of the Respondent no.6 and 7 is against the guidelines of the Apex Court in the matter of Parmanand Katara Vs. Union of India AIR 1989 SC 2039 issued in this regard that every hospital is duty-bound to provide emergency immediate primary treatment to every person.

* The inaction of the respondent no.6 and 7 is in violation of the article 21 of the constitution.

* The conduct on the part of the respondent no.6 and 7 in not providing the emergency primary treatment is also in violation of the guidelines issued by the State Government and Central Government.

* Prima facie it appears that the hospitals have committed an offence punishable in the Indian Penal Code, therefore, F.I.R. be registered against the concerned person and the conduct of the Respondent no.6 and 7 amounts to Culpable Homicide as defined in the Indian Penal Code.

Relief sought by the Petitioner Association

* The respondent no. 1 to 5 may kindly be directed to initiate inquiry and punish the concerned director and employees involved in the management of hospital, Doctors and Staff of the Respondent No. 6 and 7 Hospital in accordance with the law.

* The Respondent no. 1 to 5 be directed to cancel the licences of the concerned director and employees involved in the management of hospital, Doctors and Staff of the Respondent No. 6 and 7 Hospital who were on emergency duty at the relevant time.

* The Respondent no.1 to 5 may kindly be directed to issue guidelines for all the Hospital to provide Emergency primary treatment to all the citizens of the state and also establish Emergency primary health Centre for providing immediate treatment.

* The Respondent no.1 to 5 may kindly be directed to establish or appoint grievance redressal authority in the state.

* To direct the respondents to pay the compensation of Rs.1,00,00,000/- to the family of the deceased.

Interim relief sought - In the meantime the CCTV Footage and the entire documents related to the treatment of Sushri Achla Joshi of the Respondent No.6 and 7 Hospital dated 05/09/2020 to 06/09/2020 may kindly be preserved and submitted under the custody of this court for the purpose of inquiry in the interest of Justice.

The Order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court

It may be noted that while hearing this Writ Petition, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday (10^th September) ordered,

"Till the next date of hearing, respondent No.4 is directed to ensure that the CCTV footage and all the documents relating to the treatment of Sushri Achla Joshi from the hospitals of the respondents No.6 and 7 between period 05/09/2020 to 06/09/2020 are preserved."

The Single Bench of Justice Prakash Shrivastava was hearing the matter and it also ordered that notice be issued to the respondents No.6 and 7 on payment of process fee within 3 days.

Matter has been listed for hearing after 2 weeks.

Significantly, a PIL being WP No.13271/2020 has already been filed in respect of the same unfortunate incident and in that PIL, the Division Bench of Justices S. C. Sharma and Virender Singh on Thursday (10^th September) passed an order for conducting a fact-finding inquiry by the District Magistrate.

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