‘We are aghast’: HC raps Bihar over differing death figures

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on Covid management in the state, the bench of chief justice Sanjay Karol and justice Sanjay Kumar earlier termed as “disturbing” the issue of corpses found floating in the Ganga river and sought a detailed reply from the advocate general, who submitted the commissioner’s affidavit on Monday.

The Patna high court on Monday expressed displeasure over inconsistencies in death figures for Buxar provided in affidavits filed by the Patna division commissioner and the chief secretary, and directed that data since March 1 be furnished for all districts of the state.

Police personnel looking buried in the ground dead bodies were found Mahadev Ghat on the banks of river Ganga in Chausa village, in Buxar (PTI file photo)

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on Covid management in the state, the bench of chief justice Sanjay Karol and justice Sanjay Kumar earlier termed as “disturbing” the issue of corpses found floating in the Ganga river and sought a detailed reply from the advocate general, who submitted the commissioner’s affidavit on Monday.

“We are aghast at the manner in which the affidavits are being filed. The bench deserves better treatment from the government. We don’t appreciate this. All affidavits must be vetted by a lawyer. The department directly cannot file affidavits in these types of matters. They have to be vetted by your office. At this point in time, we do not comment anything further on these affidavits, but all facts first must be verified from all sources and then only placed before us, else it will amount to filing of false/incomplete affidavit,” the bench observed.

The bench was upset that while the chief secretary’s affidavit said only six deaths since March 1 had taken place in Buxar, there were 789 cremations mentioned in the commissioner’s affidavit at just one cremation ghat, Muktidham Charitarban, Buxar, under the Nagar Parishad within a span of 10 days, from May 5-14.

“The CS does not say that six deaths are only due to Covid. The commissioner also does not say that 789 deaths are non-Covid deaths. The total population of Buxar is 17 lakh, but the figures are only for the Nagar Parishad. There is no mention of the religion or age groups of the dead. Hindus may be a majority in Buxar, but that does not mean that there is none from other religions. Last rites may also have been performed at burial grounds,”it added.

Advocate general Lali Kishore said that certain clarifications were required and he would inform the court after getting all the details.

“Information furnished needs to be collated in a format which can be done by a technically qualified person. We direct the state to depute with the learned advocate general at least two technically qualified persons having proficiency in computers for updating the data in the format,” the bench said.

“The commissioner’s affidavit says only 81 bodies were found in the Ganga, 71 on May 10, six on May 11 and four on May 12 and the last rites were performed as per procedure after DNA sampling. On the other hand, there are six deaths reported and 789 cremations at just one ghat. We will also like to know the age group, no matter if it is related to Covid or not. If young people are dying, it is serious.”

Bihar government has claimed consistent drop in positivity rate in the state in the last one week. On Monday, 5,990 persons tested positive out of 125,342 samples. On May 16, the number of positives was 6,994 out of 120,291 samples tested, though it officially recorded 89 deaths to take the total death toll in the state to 3,832.

On May 11, the number of people who tested positive was 10, 920 out of 110,071 samples tested across the state. Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey on Monday tweeted that positivity rate in Bihar has dropped to 4.75% and recovery rate improved to 88.81%, while the total number of active cases has now come down to 69, 697.

The bench added that in the digital era, the relevant websites need also be updated to reflect the correct death figures. “We notice that the official website maintained by the state of Bihar for recording births and deaths has not yet been updated. We see no reason as to why the deaths, be it 6 or 789, would not have been updated on the official website. Equally, this would apply to all the districts of Bihar.”

Oxygen supply

The bench also wanted to know if the state had been provided with enough tankers for transportation of 400MT of liquid medical oxygen it had demanded. The additional solicitor general said the Centre had allocated the demanded quantity and the issue of transportation has been resolved.

“Let an affidavit of the principal secretary, health department, government of Bihar, verifying such facts be filed within the next two days. He shall also inform of the sufficiency or the lack thereof of the infrastructure for transporting the entire allocated quota of oxygen (liquid medical oxygen). He shall apprise the court of the infrastructure for storage and transportation up to the point of the end user,” the bench said.