Important points:
Normally the complainant has the right to choose any court having jurisdiction and the accused cannot dictate where the case against him should be tried. Even so, the process of justice should not harass the parties and from that angle the court may weigh the circumstances

JUDGMENT :

S. MANIKUMAR, J.

1. Mr. Balu Gopalakrishnan, the petitioner herein, is a lawyer by profession. He wants to bring to the attention of this Court an untoward incident, wherein a fully pregnant lady, who according to him, was made to run for 14 hours, by the District Medical authorities, resulting in the death of her twin children.

2. The incident happened as a result of sheer apathy of the Government machinery, having scant regard to human lives. It had happened before also at the same Medical College Hospital, which is supposed to be the tertiary care centre in a district. A month before, four pregnant ladies were denied admission to the Medical College, citing they had COVID symptoms, and were referred to Perinthalmanna Government Hospital, 25 Kms and 40 minutes away. The public had to intervene and the 4th respondent was constrained to take the patients in. On 26.09.2020, the hapless lady was turned away citing that the Medical College was a COVID Treatment Centre and Non-COVID patients should seek medical care elsewhere. The 4th respondent is expected to devise its own methods for critically ill patients and not let the patients in a lurch.

3. Even though the Government Doctors are prohibited from private consultation, it is seldom followed. The State should come down heavily on such doctors and be booked under relevant provisions of criminal law. Accountability is about the relationship between the State and its citizens, and the extent to which the State is answerable for its actions. If people in responsible positions are non accountable for such dastardly acts, then the State loses its credibility. It is unfortunate that the police department has not till date registered a crime and started investigating into the deaths. This is not a case of medical negligence. But a brutal crime orchestrated by the system, where there is no value for a precious human life.

4. This Writ Petition is filed to shake the Government from its slumber and to devise methods to safeguard the life of citizens. It is filed on behalf of the two dead children whose fundamental rights to life was curtailed by State apathy. It is filed to tie accountability of the deaths on the erring government servants. It exhorts the need for an investigation to the deaths by the State. It is an endeavour to bring out the unholy nexus between the private hospitals and the doctors who illegally get benefited from the gratis they receive from them, at the cost of a common man. It is filed with a prayer for monetary compensation to the parents of the deceased children, to be levied on the officials who will be held liable for the deaths, after investigation.

5. The reliefs sought for in the writ petition are as follows:

“(i) Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order, commanding the 1st respondent-State of Kerala, represented by Secretary, Ministry for Health, Social Justice and Women and Child Development, Thiruvananthapuram, to register a case and investigate into the foul play, which lead to the deaths of infants.

(ii) Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order, commanding the 5th respondent- District Police Chief, Malappuram, to investigate into the matter of doctors in the 4th respondent Medical College and 7th respondent hospital having private consultation, and their nexus with the private hospitals.

(iii) Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order, commanding the 1st respondent, to declare all emergency care patients to be taken care of without emphasising for COVID certificates.

(iv) Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order, commanding the 1st respondent, to pay a compensation of Rs.50 Lakhs or such other amount this Court deems fit, to the parents of the deceased children, and to recover the same from the erring o