Health dept files plaint against Sirsa dera’s ‘illegal’ skin bank
SIRSA: The district health department has submitted a complaint in the local court against an illegal ‘skin bank’ operating on the Dera Sacha Sauda campus in Sirsa.
The complaint was filed by the chief medical officer on the directions of the director general of health service, after a team of the health department found that the Dera management could not produce any documentation or registration of the skin bank under The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.
“During a search operation, a team of the health department found preserved skin at the Shah Satnam hospital. According to documents, the Dera had conducted a surgery and even given skin to a Karnal-based hospital, which is illegal under the provisions of the Act,” said deputy chief medical officer Viresh Bhushan.
Bhushan said that it is illegal to sell, donate or transplant skin, if a hospital is not following the proper procedures under the Act.
While revealing that skin banks have an important role in the treatment of patients with burn injuries, non-healing wounds etc, he said, “I am not sure why the Dera had opened a skin bank on its campus.”
He said that the complaint had been filed on the directions of the director general of health service and the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate will be hearing the case on February 19.
Meanwhile, a senior advocate
COURT OF ADDL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE WILL HEAR THE CASE ON FEB 19; COMPLAINT COMES CLOSE ON THE HEELS OF CHARGESHEET AGAINST DERA CHIEF AND HIS AIDES IN CASTRATION CASE
at the Sirsa court, Rahul Sharma, said, “As per the transplantation of human organs and tissues Act, the court can take cognisance only after a complaint is filed by the appropriate authority and, if someone is found guilty, the court can award three years of imprisonment and can also impose a fine.
The complaint comes close on the heels of a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and two of his followers in a castration case. The dera chief is already serving a 20-year sentence in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for raping two of his women disciples. He is also facing
two murder trials.
DERA MANAGEMENT MUM ON THE ISSUE
The Dera management, meanwhile, has refused to comment on the issue. When Hindustan Times contacted Prakash Singh, a member of the dera management, he said that he is not a competent authority to comment on the matter.
A doctor, who was working with the skin bank, said, “The hospital at the Dera Sacha Sauda was open on the pattern of Mumbai Skin Bank and the Dera had completed all the formalities required to open the skin bank.”