HC fumes over state’s handling of case, seeks response in 2 days

AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday gave two days time to the state government to clarify the circumstances which led to swapping of the body of a Covid-19 patient in Amritsar last week.

The high court bench of justice Vivek Puri, which heard the petition of two sons of a Hoshiarpur Covid victim, demanding that their father be produced before the court, was perturbed over the state’s handing of the case. Instead of a response from the government, district administration or health authorities, affidavit in the case was filed by the local police. “Two days time has been given to them. The court was perturbed over the fact that police filed the reply in place of others,” said lawyers SS Boparai and Rajiv Malhotra, who appeared for the petitioners. Detailed order from the court is awaited while matter will be taken up on Friday again.

Two sons of Hoshiarpur Covid-19 victim had moved court on Monday demanding that their father, whom authorities had declared dead and body reportedly got swapped in Amritsar, be produced before court. They had told court that their father was diagnosed as corona positive on July 1 and was admitted in Rayat Bahra University (Corona Isolation Centre) at Hoshiarpur on July 2. Subsequently he was shifted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, on July 5 as his condition deteriorated. But one of his sons got a call on July 18 that their father has breathed his last on July 17. But on July 18, they received mortal remains of a woman.

The Amritsar police in court on Wednesday said that the district administration has already ordered a magisterial inquiry into the case to fix the responsibility, and action will be taken after the probe report. The police have confirmed that the father is dead and his body was to be sent to Hoshiarpur. But somehow, it got swapped.

As per reports in Amritsar, the woman’s kin cremated the mortal remains sent on July 18. However, the two sons found that the body sent was that of a woman and not their father. Hospital authorities said the bodies got swapped as the staff on duty put wrong labels on the caskets.

Meanwhile, a two-member team of the Human Rights Commission visited the GMCH and questioned the hospital authorities, including medical superintendent Dr Raman Sharma, for over two hours. The team also checked the Covid-19 patients’ records, which were maintained by the hospital.

POLICE TOLD THE COURT THAT A MAGISTERIAL INQUIRY HAS ALREADY BEEN ORDERED