HC lauds BMC, pulls up Centre, state for lapses in dealing with Covid

The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday lauded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its great vision of having civic-run hospitals with affiliated medical colleges which enabled it to control the number of Covid-19 cases in the city, and said the same should be emulated by other civic bodies

The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday lauded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its great vision of having civic-run hospitals with affiliated medical colleges which enabled it to control the number of Covid-19 cases in the city, and said the same should be emulated by other civic bodies.

HT Image

The HC then pulled up the state for not complying with its earlier orders pertaining to alleged mismanagement of Covid-19 treatment during the second wave and for not taking steps to curb black-marketing and profiteering during procurement and distribution of Covid-19 drugs. The bench also blasted the Centre for allowing politicians and celebrities to procure and provide antiviral drugs and oxygen.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing public interest litigations (PILs) citing mismanagement of Covid-19 second wave by the state and civic authorities, was informed there was little to no compliance of the court’s earlier orders by any of the respondents. The bench was told the replies and affidavits filed were incomplete and vague as they failed to address the issues raised in the petitions conclusively.

The affidavit filed by the state while pointing out that there was no shortage of remdesivir was silent on the administration of the drug in private hospitals. The bench took note of the same and questioned the state as to how they could substantiate its claim of no shortage.

The court also noted that though Covid-19 cases were going down, the need for oxygen had not reduced and hence there was a doubt about the facts and figures furnished by the state.

In light of concerns raised by advocate Rajesh Inamdar for one of the petitioners over celebrities and politicians procuring drugs and oxygen to help patients, HC asked the Centre, “Allocation is by Union, collection is by state. Where is the window of collection by these personalities? That is our anxiety.”

Additional solicitor general Anil Singh submitted that the Centre would file a report on the issue along with compliances of the earlier orders of HC. He added that the Central authority had asked all state drugs controllers to conduct investigation drives to prevent hoarding and black marketing of remdesivir.

Senior advocate Anil Sakhare for BMC informed the bench that the civic body was taking measures for expanding the scope of vaccination and infrastructure for paediatric treatment.

After hearing the submissions, the bench said, “We make it clear that we are concerned with the lives of citizens; there cannot be any mileage for popularity or for other things. We are deeply pained if needy patients are being deprived of it. This is sorry state of affairs.” The bench then warned, “By the next hearing, if we find you (state) are not serious in compliance of our orders, we will be compelled to seek presence of the chief secretary of Maharashtra.”

Lauding the BMC’s vision of having big hospitals and affiliated medical colleges, the HC said other civic bodies should have followed such mechanism.

It observed that while every district has civil hospitals, all of them did not have medical colleges. “The pandemic is an eye opener. Think of future generations. They should not be under fear of doctors not being available to treat. It is high time for policymakers to sit down and decide. We can only echo our sentiments,” said the bench.

Seeking affidavits in reply to its queries from Central and state governments, the court posted hearing to May 25.