MP High Court orders airlifting influencer injured in Indore blast

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday directed that a 27-year-old social media influencer who suffered severe burns in a gas pipeline explosion in Indore be airlifted to Ahmedabad for specialised treatment.

The State Government shall bear the entire cost of the woman’s treatment, said Justices Subodh Abhyankar and Jai Kumar Pillai of the Indore bench, hearing a public interest litigation filed by local lawyer Ritesh Inani.

During the hearing of the PIL,Yashveer Jhala, brother of social media influencer Jini Jhala (27), filed an application seeking to intervene.

Though a surgery was performed on Jini Jhala on Wednesday, specialised treatment for such extensive burn injuries was available only at Ahmedabad’s  Zydus Hospital, and therefore the family wanted to shift her there, said Yashveer’s lawyer. 

“On due consideration of the submissions and upon a perusal of the photographs of the victim, this court is inclined to accept the said prayer,” said the bench.
Jhala should be airlifted to Ahmedabad as expeditiously as possible, the court said, directing the Commissioner of Health Department, Indore District Magistrate and the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) to make necessary arrangements.

A compliance report should be submitted by June 30, said the HC.The division bench also noted that on June 24, it had directed the state government’s counsel to seek instructions on the petitioner’s complaint that the explosion victims were being charged for the expenses at Indore’s Bombay Hospital.  

Advocate Rishi Tiwari, representing the Indore Municipal Corporation, informed that the private hospital has been asked not to  charge the patients for any expenses.

The explosion occurred on June 23 in Indore’s Vijay Nagar area after a drilling machine struck an underground piped natural gas (PNG) line during excavation work. Four people, including Jini Jhala, were injured and two vehicles were damaged.

Locals claimed that an illegal tubewell was being dug at the site, while the municipal corporation stated that a pit was being dug for groundwater recharge.