E-Paper
COVID-19 VICTIMS’ BODY SWAP: HC issues notice to govt as Hoshiarpur man’s sons say their father is still alive
Court asks state to file reply by July 22 in a case wherein bodies of Amritsar and Hoshiarpur Covid victims were interchanged
Two day after bodies of Covid-19 victims got swapped at Amritsar’s Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday issued a notice to the Punjab government seeking a detailed reply on Wednesday, observing that “the matter not only exhibit sheer negligence, but also causes apprehensions in the mind of kin of one of the deceased”.
According to GMCH authorities, Pritam Singh, 93, of Tanda Ram Sahai village in of Hoshiarpur district, died of complications after he tested positive of Covid-19 at the hospital on July 17 night, but his family received mortal remains of a woman, identified as Padma, 37, of Amritsar. Padma’s kin, on the other hand, got Pritam’s body, which they cremated on July 18. Meanwhile, Pritam’s family returned Padma’s body and her kin performed her last rites on July 19.
Following this, Pritam’s sons Gurcharanjit Singh and Dalbir Singh filed a writ petition through lawyers Rajiv Malhotra and Satinderdeep Singh Boparai in the Punjab and Haryana high court. Taking cognisance of the case, the court issued a notice of motion to the state asking it to verify the facts and file a detailed response on July 22.
“The petitioners are hopeful that their father is still alive and even as per the standard operating procedure, before the cremation, the face of the deceased is required to be shown to the relatives. It has been stated that father of the petitioners is alive and still admitted as a Covid-19 patient at the GMCH,” reads the order.
The petition reads the Pritam’s son Dalbir was also admitted to the hospital along with his father. As per the petition, on July 13, doctors informed Dalbir that his father expired two days back. He rushed to the ICU, where Pritam was admitted, just to find him alive. This issue was raised with the authorities, after which Dalbir was abruptly discharged from the hospital, the petition reads.
On Saturday afternoon, Dalbir’s daughter received a call from the hospital that their father breathed his last on July 17 at 11pm, said the lawyer, referring the petition. The petitioners stated that there was considerable difference in the physical appearance of both the persons and family of the Amritsar woman must have noticed the difference.
“The reasoning explains the apprehension of the petitioners as they fear that something wrong is going on behind the scene and it’s just not the case of exchange of dead bodies…. it is a matter of urgent nature and a committee should be formed to unearth the whole scam/racket going on under the garb of corona pandemic,” reads the petition.
Seeking a criminal case against the erring officials, the petitioners also urged the court to form a commission to probe the lapses.
A magisterial probe has already been ordered into the case. The GMCH officials have also written a letter to state medical education and research department for suspending four staff members of the hospital for negligence in handling the bodies.
