Sion hospital video: HC directs Maharashtra government to explain process for disposing Covid-19 patients’ bodies

Stating that the video of Sion hospital – in which Covid-19 patients were being treated next to the bodies of those who died of the virus – was of serious concern,

 Stating that the video of Sion hospital – in which Covid-19 patients were being treated next to the bodies of those who died of the virus – was of serious concern, the Bombay high court (HC) on Friday widened the scope of the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ashish Shelar to include all government and civic-run hospitals in the state. The court also directed the state to inform the procedure adopted to manage and dispose the bodies of Covid-19 patients and asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to update on the progress of the probe into the video of Sion hospital.

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The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice MS Karnik, while hearing the PIL through video conferencing on Friday, was informed by advocate Rajendra Pai who represented Shelar that the viral video of Sion hospital “shocked the conscience of Mumbaiites”. Pai also submitted that there were unconfirmed reports of patients being forced to share their beds with dead victims in some hospitals.

When asked about the progress of the probe regarding the video that went viral, senior advocate Anil Sakhare for the BMC informed the bench that the probe was underway and the civic authorities needed time to submit its findings.

After hearing the submissions, the court observed that the video raised “serious concerns” about the management and disposal of bodies of Covid-19 victims and said that it was “widening the scope of the petition to include all government and civic run hospitals in the state”. The bench then directed advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to place the procedure for management and disposal of bodies of Covid-19 victims and also directed the BMC to submit its report on the viral video by Monday and posted the PIL for hearing for July 3.

Expressing satisfaction on the measures initiated by the state and civic corporation on the availability of ambulances to ferry Covid-19 as well as non-Covid patients, the bench disposed a PIL filed by BJP leader and former parliamentarian Kirit Somaiya. The court was informed that a round-the-clock helpline was started for accessing ambulance services, and information about ambulances was also being updated on the official website of the civic body. Hence, the concerns raised in the petition were addressed. Somaiya earlier sought directions to the BMC to rope in private ambulance service providers in view of civic ambulances proving to be insufficient. Somaiya submitted that as both all patients had to wait for long hours before a civic ambulance reached them, many died and thus there was a need to rope in the around 3,000 private ambulances in the city to make up for the shortage. The court observed that the concerns of the petitioner were addressed and disposed the PIL.