Bodies piling up at Lok Nayak hospital was an ‘unfortunate’ incident, govt tells HC

The high court had filed a public interest litigation on the basis of a May 27 Hindustan Times report that highlighted how bodies were piling up at the mortuary as the four CNG furnaces at Nigambodh Ghat CNG crematorium lay defunct. Most bodies were being returned to the mortuary.

The Delhi government on Monday told the Delhi High Court that piling up of the dead bodies at Lok Nayak hospital mortuary last month was an “unfortunate incident” because of “unavoidable circumstances”. The government also stated that it is now working on a war footing to clear the backlog of bodies.

Medical professionals wearing PPE coveralls seen next to an ambulance outside the Covid-19 ward at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The submissions to the high court were made by advocate Sanjoy Ghose, additional standing counsel of the Delhi government, while hearing a plea which the court had initiated. The high court had filed a public interest litigation on the basis of a May 27 Hindustan Times report that highlighted how bodies were piling up at the mortuary as the four CNG furnaces at Nigambodh Ghat CNG crematorium lay defunct. Most bodies were being returned to the mortuary.

The Delhi government in its submission also informed the court that a team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took stock of the ground situation at the hospital and gave its preliminary report stating that on their inspection last week, they found no bodies lying in the corridor and also emergency patients being attended to. The NHRC had visited the hospital last week, after residents took to social media to complain that there were no beds for patients at the hospital.

On Monday, advocate Ghose told the court that the NHRC’s preliminary report said that no critical patient is being denied admission in the hospital and patients are allowed to carry mobile phones and home cooked food.

He also said that from May 30 to June 12, at least 338 bodies were sent to the crematoriums. The government in its submission also presented data of the total bodies cleared from the mortuary since May 30.

He also said that free of cost ambulance services were being given by the Delhi government for transporting bodies to the crematoriums.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain told the court that the Supreme Court has also taken suo moto cognizance of the reports of bodies at Lok Nayak hospital. He urged the court to wait for the order of the Apex court and sought for an adjournment.

Following this, the court posted the matter for further hearing on June 29.