As escalation of Coronavirus cases can be witnessed in the nation, while handling of dead bodies and their funeral remains a concern in the country.
With the rise in reports and viral videos of mishandling the dead bodies of Covid positive cases, coming from whole nation, the authorities sprung in action to tackle this muddle.
Supreme Court on Thursday, heard a petition over handling the on going treatment and disposal of bodies of Covid-19 patients. A bench of three judges, justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah assigned by the Chief justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, heard the matter of mishandling infected dead bodies.
The court has asked the state government why the Corona testing has been reduced in Delhi. While hearing the case, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, while reprimanding the Delhi government, said that the corpses are being kept in a disorderly manner, what is happening?
The Supreme Court says that the bodies of Delhi are not being properly cared for in government hospitals. Patients’ families are also not being informed about the deaths. In some cases, families have also not been able to attend the funeral.
The apex court also questioned the decrease in the number of testing in the national capital claiming that while investigations have increased from 15000 to 17000 in metros like Mumbai and Chennai, there is a decrease in Delhi.
During the hearing on the case, the Solicitor General told the court that the Central Government has given guidelines regarding the dead bodies. He said that the government is working on treating patients, but the pictures that came out yesterday were quite frightening.
The top court has now issued notices to Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on the matter. Apart from this, the court issued a notice to the state governments, including LNJP Hospital in Delhi, to reply on the matter. The court has asked the chief secretaries of the states to look into the status of the patient management system and submit an appropriate status report.
At the same time, the court has also issued a notice to the Center seeking a detailed reply on the issue. The court asked all the parties to respond by June 17 on the steps taken to manage the bodies of Kovid-19 patients and infected people. The next hearing in this case will be held on Wednesday.
