Gujarat HC: Doctors Must Be Compassionate Towards Poor People

The Gujarat High Court issued an order on Tuesday establishing a committee to investigate two incidences that were brought to its attention in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) complaint alleging that two pregnant women were denied medical care by the civic and government hospitals.

According to the PIL, a civic hospital in Ahmedabad denied treatment to a woman who lost her child after delivery in February, 2022. Another incident occurred in January, 2022 in Anand district, where a poor woman was forced to deliver her child beneath the hospital’s stairs.

A Bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri stated that doctors must be sensitive and compassionate towards patients, particularly poor citizens who cannot afford treatment in big hospitals.

The Chief Justice remarked that, “Only the poor go to civic or government hospitals because they cannot afford expensive treatment in large hospitals. These are the people who require genuine compassion and treatment… We don’t know how doctors live up to the Hippocratic oath.”

The observations were made by the Court during a hearing on a PIL highlighting two incidents in which pregnant women in labor were denied treatment or admission in civic hospitals.

The government counsel urged the Bench to review affidavits detailing how the incidents occurred and what action was taken in the respective cases.

The judges, on the other hand, refused to peruse the affidavits.

The Chief Justice observed that, “This was evident even earlier. This is a widespread issue, as there have been numerous instances of patients being denied admission or treatment. This (contents of affidavit) is equivalent to you crying and we wiping your tears, or you scratching my back and I scratching yours.”

The Court clarified that it would not leave the issue unresolved, and that unless harsh action was taken, the authorities would not learn.

The Bench clarified, “We cannot continue to ignore this critical issue. We will form an independent committee to investigate the issue and conduct a thorough inquiry. This committee, which would be led by a retired judge of this Court, should include one female IAS officer and one female IPS officer.”

Therefore, it established a committee to be chaired by Justice Harsha Devani, who was a judge of the High Court from October 2004 to March 2020. The committee would also include Laveena Sinha, the current Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Ahmedabad, and Rashmi Mohan, a State IAS officer.

The case is listed for a future hearing after eight weeks.