On Friday, the Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government and the Director General of Medical Education for an affidavit. Within six weeks the government is directed to file a detailed affidavit on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition regarding the children’s death in state run hospital in Gorakhpur.
October 9th has been set as the next hearing by the Lucknow Bench of the High Court.
Justices Vikram Nath and Daya Shankar Tiwari were on the Bench. They passed the order once they heard the petitioner Nutan Thakur, Advocate General Raghavendra Pratap Singh and Medical Education Counsel Sanjay Bhasin.
Advocate General Raghavendra Pratap Singh was against the petition on the grounds that the government took every possible step in the matter. He also argued that the government would also take the required action based on the report given by the Chief Secretary.
Nutan Thakur, on the other hand, objected the government’s work and said it seemed more like they were trying to hide the facts.
Since the 7th of August, a total of 71 children has died in BRD Hospital due to various causes including encephalitis.
However, there has been speculation that some of the children died due to lack of oxygen but the government has dismissed these claims.
