The restrictions on mediapersons entering into the campus of the SCB Medical College and Hospital here are going to stay. The Odisha High Court dismissing a PIl on the issue has observed that the hospital diktat on journalists had been taken in public interest and does not warrant any judicial interference.
A Division Bench of the HC headed by Chief Justice Amitava Roy said, "The restraint on doctors in their interaction with the media or the entry of media personnel to (the hospital) without the prior approval of the superintendent of the hospital, in our estimate, cannot by any means be construed to be illegal, unauthorised or arbitrary."
It may be noted that following a brawl between some PG students of the medical college and a section of mediapersons on the hospital campus in June last year, the hospital authorities had issued a circular stating that journalists would be allowed to the hospital premises for covering any news only after obtaining prior permission from the superintendent.
The circular was challenged in the High Court by the Nationalist lawyers' Forum and the India Media Centre through their counsel Nishikant Mishra alleging that the circular was an infraction of Constitutional rights of journalists.
Denouncing the circular, the petitioners had stated that it was an attempt to put a veil on the gross unprofessional conduct of the authorities. "There has been deterioration in the quality of medical help and treatment to the poor and needy patients," the petitioner had stated, underlining the vital role of the media in reporting cases to secure minimum medical help to the needy.
But the hospital authorities had justified the restrictions on the media and claimed that ever since the gag order was imposed on journalists, the hospital has made substantial improvement in the patient care system.
The High Court, however, was of the firm opinion that the petitioners' plea was "unsustainable". Considering the pleaded facts, the HC acknowledged the role of media in espousing the causes of the poor and needy, but it did not accept the challenge to the circular, which was issued as a remedial measure for smooth management of the hospital and to provide better healthcare facilities to the patients.