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BRD hospital tragedy: Allahabad HC rejects bail plea of former principal
Dr Rajiv Kumar Mishra, ex-principal of Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur, allegedly tried to arm twist the oxygen supplier for bribes forcing him to top supply of oxygen.
The Allahabad high court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Dr Rajiv Kumar Mishra, former principal of Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur, where several children had died after oxygen supply to the hospital was allegedly cut off in August 2017.
A division bench comprising Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice DK Singh said the “order for the release of the petitioner on bail cannot be passed in light of facts and circumstances of the matter”.
A case has been registered against the petitioner, Dr Mishra, on charges of criminal negligence and also under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Over 30 children had died at the medical college in the intervening night of August 10 and 11, 2017, allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply.
In his bail application, Dr Mishra pleaded that he had been languishing in jail for the last seven months while other co-accused have been released on bail.
However, opposing the bail application, the state counsel pleaded that the case is very serious and it was due to the alleged role of petitioner that the oxygen supply was stopped. He alleged that the petitioner had stopped payment to the oxygen supplier to force the company to pay him his illegal kickbacks (commission).
As a result, the company stopped oxygen supply and which resulted in the death of several children in the hospital. Hence, he does not deserve to be released on bail, the state counsel said.
Last week, the high court had granted bail to Dr Kafeel Khan, the head of the encephalitis ward and an assistant professor at the paediatric department, who was removed from the post of the nodal officer at the National Health Mission in the wake of death of the children.
On April 9, the Supreme Court granted bail to Manish Bhandari — the oxygen supplier to the BRD Medical College and hospital who had also been arrested after the tragedy.
