A plea was moved in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday seeking registration of FIRs against directors of hospitals which denied treatment to a seven-year-old boy Avinash Rout who died of dengue and whose parents later committed suicide.
The PIl was mentioned before a Bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva which directed that it be listed for hearing on Thursday.
The petition, mentioned by advocate Satya Ranjan Swain, has been filed on behalf of a law student Gauri Grover who has contended that the suicide note left by the parents of the child “clearly establishes that they were prompted to commit suicide due to the callous attitude of hospital authorities which led to death of their only son”.
The petition said, “The act of the hospital authorities clearly falls under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of Indian Penal Code.” It sought that the Centre and the Delhi Government be directed to declare dengue an epidemic and issue necessary directions that no hospital shall refuse to admit dengue patients.
The petitioner has alleged that in many hospitals, 30 per cent of the beds meant for patients belonging to economically weaker section (EWS) were lying empty and the remaining were being used by rich patients. The petition has alleged that private hospitals were denying admission to poor patients just to get more money by admitting rich patients.