The court pointed out that none of the petitioners had provided specifics nor did any of the aggrieved families come forward seeking compensation
The Bombay high court at Goa has declined to entertain petitions seeking a judicial probe into alleged shortage of oxygen at the state’s premier Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) to fix responsibility for the disruption as well as to assign compensation for the victims.
The court pointed out that none of the petitioners had provided specifics nor did any of the aggrieved families come forward seeking compensation. “It will not be appropriate to consider the issue of setting up a judicial commission to inquire into the deaths at GMCH in May 2021 or the issue of payment of compensation in these petitions…By merely filing some application, which is also quite vague, the petitioners cannot seek such a relief,” the bench of justices MS Sonak and MS Jawalkar said.
“There are no particulars as to whether any of the victims have authorised any of the petitioners to raise such a claim. In the state of such pleadings, we refrain from going into the issue of either appointment of a judicial commission, or the issue of payment of compensation,” the high court said.
The South Goa Advocates Association, which had filed a petition, had sought that a judicial commission be set up to probe the recent disruptions in oxygen supply at the GMCH and determine the compensation to be paid to the families.
The state government, however, opposed such a commission claiming that any such inquiry would “demoralise” the frontline workers. “The doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, officials and bureaucrats have worked tirelessly and with full dedication during the entire pandemic and more particularly, during the second wave. Subjecting them to a judicial enquiry would be highly unjust and would have an effect of demoralising the entire workforce. Medical personnel and bureaucrats should not be subjected to such treatment in the name of a PIL,” the advocate general told the court.
More than 75 persons have died during the ‘dark hours’ at the GMCH which coincided with dropping oxygen levels at the hospital’s main supply line.
It was health minister Vishwajit Rane who first suggested that the high court should order a probe into the deaths though the Goa government claimed it was a logistical issue rather than an actual shortage of oxygen that was causing the disruptions.
The hospital has since installed a liquid medical oxygen tank that ensures continuous supply.
