Gorakhpur tragedy: Supreme Court refuses to take suo motu cognisance, asks petitioner to approach HC

The Supreme Court has refused to take suo motu cognisance of the matter involving the death of children at a hospital in Gorakhpur. The plea had also sought an SIT probe into the matter. The bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud asked the lawyer, who mentioned the issue before it, to approach the Allahabad High Court with his grievances. The court observed that the authorities were handling the situation and the grievances, if any, have to be raised before the high court concerned. Over 60 children have reportedly died at Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College Hospital since 7 August. At least 30 children were reported dead in the last two days alone. Many of the victims were infants who perished in the neonatal intensive care unit. It is alleged that the disruption in oxygen supply to the hospital due to the non-payment of bills could be the cause of several of the reported deaths. [caption id=“attachment_3922271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Family members and relatives mourn outside the BRD Hospital in Gorakhpur. PTI[/caption] Police had said no case has been registered so far in the absence of a formal complaint. The state government had ruled out lack of oxygen as the cause behind the deaths. State health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said, “After the first level of investigation, we can claim that the deaths did not take place due to disruption of gas supply. The discussions happened in detail, but issue of gas supply that should’ve come to light didn’t come up,” said Singh. The government had also ordered an official inquiry lead by the chief secretary and suspended the principal of the Medical College Hospital Rajiv Mishra. Mishra had later resigned to take “moral responsibility” for the incident. The deaths set off protests in the national capital even as Congress demanded that a murder case be registered against those whose negligence resulted in the “massacre”. Amid the tragedy, it was reported that a doctor’s quick thinking saved many lives, according to DNA. Dr Kafeel Khan, the head of encephalitis ward at the hospital, thought on his feet and arranged oxygen cylinders with the help of his friends and private vendors. But a day after the tragedy, Khan was terminated from his services by the hospital. Under strident opposition attack over the death of the children, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday warned of "exemplary" action against those found responsible for the horrifying tragedy amid calls for his resignation. With inputs from PTI