PIL In Allahabad High Court Seeks Operationalization Of Post-Mortem House In Lakhimpur Kheri District

A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Allahabad High Court seeking the operationalization of an already constructed post-mortem house in Nighasan in Lakhimpur Kheri District.

Advocate Syed Mohammad Haider Rizvi, a practising lawyer at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, filed the PIL highlighting the number of unnatural deaths in various villages in District Lakhimpur Kheri. In the petition, the importance of post-mortem being done on time was highlighted. It was stated in the PIL that there is only one functional post-mortem house in Lakhimpur Kheri District.

Petitioner stated that Lakhimpur Kheri District, being the largest in the State of Uttar Pradesh, required more than one post-mortem house for timely post-mortems and autopsy. It was stated that though the post-mortem house was sanctioned in 1993, it was constructed in 2013 and yet there is no hope for the citizens as it is not functional.

Further, in the petition, the lack of hearse and ambulances for transporting the bodies of the deceased has been highlighted as it causes degradation of corpses due to extreme weather conditions in the District.

It was submitted that despite various representations to the Department of Medical and Health, no action had been taken. Due to inaction on the part of the Department, the petitioner moved the High Court under its extraordinary jurisdiction.

The bench comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla observed that though hearse vehicles were available now, Counsel for State could not provide the number of vehicles available.

The Court directed the Chief Medical Officer, Lakhimpur Kheri to find out as to how many such vehicles are available and whether they are operational and what is their condition, and file a counter affidavit regarding this.

Case Title: Syed Mohammad Haider Rizvi v. State Of U.P. Thru. Its Prin. Secy. Deptt Of Medical And Health Lko. And 5 Others [PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 475 of 2024]

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