Delhi Riots : At Midnight Hearing, Delhi HC Directs Police To Ensure Safe Passage Of Injured Victims To Hospitals [Read Order]

An emergency midnight hearing was held at today 12.30 AM at the residence of Justice S Muralidhar of Delhi High Court to hear a plea to ensure safe passage of victims injured in riots in North Eastern portions of Delhi.

The plea was for directions to ensure safe passage of seriously wounded victims from Al Hind Hospital in Mustafabad, a small hospital lacking facilities, to GTB Hospital in Dilshad Garden.

Under the orders of the senior most available judge Jusitce G S Sistani(as CJ was not available), a bench comprising Justices R Muralidhar and Anup Jairam Bhambhani held sitting at Justice Muralidhar's residence at 12.30 AM.

Advocate Suroor Mander explained the dire circumstances of victims trapped in Al Hind Hospital to Justice Muralidhar over phone. Advocate Suroor also arranged for the phone conversation between Dr Anwar at Al Hind Hospital with the bench via speaker mode. Dr Anwar explained that there were 2 dead persons and around 22 injured persons at Al Hind Hospital and that he had been trying to seek police help around 4 PM on February 25 without success.

Sanjay Ghose, counsel for the Delhi Police and Delhi Government, and Rajesh Deo, DCP (Crime) were present at the hearing. The DCP gave Dr Anwar the phone number of Deepak Gupta DPC(East) and also instructed Gupta to reach Al Hind Hospital forthwith.

Following the hearing, the Court ordered :

"The Court at this stage is primarily concerned with ensuring the safety of the lives of the injured and provide immediate medical attention that they require and for that purpose to ensure the safe passage of the injured victims to the nearest available government hospitals .The Court accordingly directs Delhi Police to ensure such safe passage by deploying all the resources at its command and on the strength of this order and to ensure that apart from the safe passage, the injured victims receive immediate emergency treatment, if not at the GTB Hospital, then at the LNJP Hospital or Maulana Azad or any other government hospital".

During the dictation of the order, the DCP (Crime) informed the bench that the police was in the process of evacuating the injured to the nearest hospital.

The Bench has also directed the Delhi Police to submit a status report of compliance, including information about the injured victims and the treatment offered. The same is to be placed before the court later today when the matter is again taken up at 2.15pm.

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