Gorakhpur tragedy: Allahabad HC orders Uttar Pradesh govt to respond to PIL filed on children's deaths

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government and the state’s director general of medical education to file a detailed counter affidavit within six weeks on a public interest litigation (PIL) on the deaths of children in a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur. [caption id=“attachment_3939699” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A child being admitted at the BRD Hospital in Gorakhpur. PTI[/caption] The Lucknow bench of the high court fixed 9 October as the next date of hearing. The bench of justices Vikram Nath and Daya Shankar Tiwari passed the order on the PIL filed by activist Nutan Thakur after hearing her, Advocate General Raghavendra Pratap Singh and Medical Education Counsel Sanjay Bhasin. The Advocate General opposed the petition, saying the state government has taken every possible measure in the matter and shall take all possible action as per the report submitted by the chief secretary. Thakur contended that the action of the state government so far gave a message that it was trying to hide facts and shield the guilty. Till Thursday, the death toll in the BRD hospital since 7 August was 71 due to various causes including encephalitis. Some of the deaths were alleged to have been caused by shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the Uttar Pradesh government.