SC stays Allahabad HC order stating entire medical system in UP villages at 'Ram bharose'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed order of Allahabad High Court in which it said that entire medical system in villages and small cities of Uttar Pradesh is at God’s mercy (“Ram bharose”) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A vacation bench of Justices Vineet Saran and BR Gavai said that the directions of high court passed on 17 May shall not be treated as directives but an advice to Uttar Pradesh government. It said that high courts should refrain themselves from passing directions which cannot be implemented. On 17 May, the Allahabad High Court while hearing a PIL over the coronavirus spread and the condition of quarantine centres in the state passed slew of directions while taking into account the death of one Santosh Kumar (64), who was admitted to an isolation ward at a Meerut hospital. The doctors there had failed to identify him and disposed of the body as unidentified, according to a probe report. Santosh had fainted at a hospital bathroom on 22 April and efforts were made to revive him but he died. The hospital staff could not identify the dead and failed to locate his file. Thus, it was taken as a case of an unidentified body.