Jharkhand High Court
Gopinath Ghosh vs Union Of India Through Its Secretary ... on 20 April, 2017
Bench: D.N.Patel, Ratnaker Bhengra
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(PIL) No. 5330 of 2015
Gopi Nath Ghosh S/o Gour Chandra Ghosh, R/o B6, Abhilasha Apartment, Purulia
Road, PO GPO, PS Lower Bazar, Ranchi Petitioner
Vrs.
1. Union of India, through its Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nirman
Bhavan,PO Nirmal Bhawan, PS Parliament Street, New Delhi, 110001.
2. State of Jharkhand through its Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare,
Nepal House, PO & PD Doranda, District,Ranchi
3.The Deputy Commissioner, Chatra, PO Chatra, PS Sadar, District Chatra.
4. The District Chief Medical Officer cum Civil Surgeon, Chatra, PO Chatra PS Sadar,
District Chatra.
5. DKT International , through Janani Surya Clinic, District ChatraDKT India, HemDil,
2nd Floor, 67A Linking Road , Op. St. Lawrence high School PO and PS Santacruz West,
Mumbai, Maharashtra400054.a
6. Janani Surya ClinicD27, 1st Floor Sachdeva House, Panchsheel Enclave, PO Malviya
Nagar PS Panchsheel Park New Delhi110017.
7. Doctor Mukesh Kumar Mishra S/o unknown R/o Unknown the then in charge of
Pathalgadda Primary Health Centre,PO and PS Patthabadaa Distt. Chatra
Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D.N.PATEL
: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RATNAKER BHENGRA
For the Petitioner : Md. Asghar, Advocate
For the Respondents : JC to AAG
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06/Dated: 20 th
April,2017
Per D.N.Patel,J
1. Having heard counsel for both sides and looking to the facts and circumstances of the case it appears that this is not a public interest litigation at all, but, it is a private interest litigation and all canons of allegations are against private parties, who are respondent nos. 5 and 6. The prayers, as prayed for, in the memo of this writ petition are as under:
"1.a. For immediate direction to the respondents to implement and comply with the orders issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Ramakant Rai & Anr. Vs. union of India & Ors., to ensure safe and hygienic procedures done by empaneled doctors. Furthermore, respondents must provide pre operational measures(pathological tests), operational facilities that have the necessary equipment and aseptic conditions, and post operative follow ups.
b. For immediate direction to respondent no.1 to provide this Hon'ble Court with records associated with claims made in accordance with the orders issued in Ramakant Rai & anr. Vs. Union of India & Ors. by the Supreme Court and issued in the Manual for Family Planning Indemnity Scheme. The state shall pay Rs. 2 lakh per death following sterilization within 7 days from the date of discharge. The state shall pay Rs. 50,000 per death following sterilization within 830 days from the date of discharge. The state shall pay Rs. 30,000/ for failure of sterilization. The 2 state shall pay up to Rs. 25,000 for treatment in hospital and up to 60 days after, arising out of complications from sterilization operation. c. For immediate direction to order compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to each of the women of the Chatra sterilization camp. As the right to Health is a recognized fundamental right (CESC Ltd. V. Subhash Chandra Bose, 1 SCC 441, (1992) in India, the violation of this right should be discouraged in the future through this Court's punitive action against the perpetrators who operated the sterilization camp on January 8th, 2015. d. For immediate direction to order the respondent 7, Dr. Mukesh Kumar Mishra, to be investigated and liable for any injury or medical harm caused at the Chatra camp due to this medical malpractice, in using a flashlight for the operation, and no following the Standard Operating Procedures for Sterilization Services in Camps.
e. For immediate direction to the respondents to turn over copies of the preoperation checklist that the doctor was supposed to fill out for all 43 patients. The checklist is a requirement of the sterilization camp doctor, as proscribed in Ramakant Rai V. Union of India by the Supreme Court. f. For immediate direction to respondent 2 to turn over the over all statistics required from Ramakant Rai V. Union of India by the Supreme Court. The overall statistics include the following:
i. Breakup of the number of sterilizations carried out for the years, 20132014 and 20142015.
ii. Age of the patients sterilized.
iii. Number of children of each person sterilized. iv. Number of deaths of the persons sterilized either during the operation or thereafter which is relatable to the sterilization. v. Number of claims and payments made under the FPIS for deaths following sterilization.
vi. Number of persons incapacitated by reason of the sterilization programs.
Vii. Number of claims and payments made under the FPIS for injury following sterilization.
Viii. Number of failed sterilization cases seeking compensation and awarded compensation under the FPIS.
ix Number of claims and payments made under the FPIS for failures following sterilization.
g. For immediate direction to the respondents to implement and comply with the Standard Operating Procedures for Sterilization Services in Camps. The procedures call for the application of the following provisions.
I. Patients should be informed before, during and after surgery about side effects and complications.
ii. Sterilization camps should have the appropriate number of staff 3 on both the local and visiting medical team as provided under Section 4, "Staff".
Iii. Sterilization camps should have a post operation room with adequate, sterile furnishings.
iv. Sterilization camps should have an aseptic environment before and after surgery.
h. For immediate direction to respondent no.2 to stop using target goals in their sterilization policies and to comply with the National Commission on Population which states, "The National Population Policy, 2000 affirms the commitment of government towards..... (the) continuation of the target free approach in administering family planning services." i. For immediate turn over of the minutes or transcripts from the Chatra District Quality Assurance Committee meetings, and for all Districts in the State, for 6 months before and after the January 11 th sterilization camp. j. For the immediate appointment of two members of civil society to all District Quality Assurance committees. The two members should be from well established health care NGO's (National alliance for maternal health and human rights)
2. It appears that there are several allegations against respondent nos. 5 and 6, which are yet to be proved and for which even First Information Report can be filed by this petitioner. Looking to the seriousness of the allegations against the private parties, it appears that these types of allegations cannot be crystallized in one way or the other in this writ petition. Hence, this writ petition is hereby dismissed.
(D.N.Patel,J.) (Ratnaker Bhengra, J.) Sharda/Nibha