A private lady doctor on Saturday found herself in the dock over her refusal to treat a premature baby on the grounds that the infant’s demonetisation-hit parents had no hard cash to pay the necessary nursing home deposit, even as the Opposition Congress charged that the Centre and Maharashtra Government were responsible for two demonentisation-related deaths in the last two days.
The Govandi Police registered a case against Dr Sheetal Kamath of Jeevan Jyot Hospital and Nursing Home at Govandi in north-east Mumbai under Sections (causing death by negligence ) and 188 (disobedience of order duly promulgated by public servant) of Indian Penal Code. The registration of the case against Dr Kamath by the police came two days after the infant died allegedly due to lack of post-natal care.
The passing away of the baby boy has been the second demonetisation-related death in the metropolis during the last two days. On Friday, a 73–year–old man had died of heart attack, while waiting for his turn in front of a State Bank of India (SBI) branch at Mulund in north-east Mumbai to exchange demonetised currency.
Trouble began for Jagadish Sharma, a carpenter, within hours after his wife Kiran went into labour prematurely and gave birth to a boy at home on November 9, before she could be taken Jeevan Jyot Hospital and Nursing Home — where she had been under the care of Dr Kamath during her pregnancy period since April 18.
Soon after the delivery, the premature baby – weighing just 1.6 kilogram (3.52 pounds) – and mother were rushed to Jeevan Jyot Hospital and Nursing Home, where Dr Kamath gave primary care but refused to admit her and her baby since her husband was not in a position to pay the entire Rs 6,000 hospital deposit in currency notes of denomination of Rs 100 and less.
Sharma’s inability to pay the entire deposit to the hospital arose from the fact that both banks and ATMs remained closed on that day --November 9, the day demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 came into effect.
On his part, Sharma requested Dr Kamath that he be given some time to get his old currency notes exchanged from the bank. However, Dr Kamath did not relent and sent Kiran and her baby back to home.
As the baby’s condition deteriorated on Friday, the family rushed the infant to one Dr Amit Shah at Chembur in north-east Mumbai. But, before the turn of the mother and father to show their infant to the doctor came, the baby boy had breathed his last.
On Friday evening, Sharma lodged a complaint with the Shivaji Nagar police station at Govandi against Dr Kamath and the Jeevan Jyot Hospital and Nursing Home. The police registered a case against Dr Kamath on Saturday.
Taking serious cognisance of the incident, the Maharashtra government has decided to write to the Maharashtra Medical Council for necessary investigation and action against Dr Kamath.
In a related development, the two demonensation-related deaths took a political turn on Saturday, as the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president and former chief minister Ashok Chavan hit out at the Centre and state government for the two “avoidable” deaths that took place in the wake of the Centre's decision to scrap the currency notes of the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 after the midnight of November 8.
“On one hand, a senior citizen Vishwanath Vartak fainted and died while waiting in a long queue to exchange demonetized notes from s bank branch at Mulund, a premature baby died at Govandi due to last post-natal arising out of a doctor’s refusal to accept demonetized notes as deposit. The Centre and State government should own up responsibility for both these deaths,” Chavan said.
Castigating the Centre for the ham-handed manner in which it had chosen to demonetize Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, Chavan said: “There are two no opinions on the need to root out black money from the society. But, the Government has chosen to hold the common man to ransom to implement its decision. This is like treatment being more dangerous than disease itself”.