The Kerala High Court has recently sought the response of the State government & Director General of the Police on a plea filed by a lawyer seeking compensation of ₹1 crore.
The compensation to the family members of 23-year-old house surgeon, Dr. Vandana Das, who was brutally murdered by a man brought to the hospital by police for the medical examination.
The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice SV Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji ordered that the plea be tagged along with a pending matter concerning the same incident.
The Court ordered, “Issue notice to respondents one to four. Tag.”
In the early hours of May 10, Dr. Das, a 23-year-old house surgeon was stabbed to death by a school teacher named Sandeep who had been brought to the hospital for medical examination since he was injured in a brawl.
The petition before the High Court was moved by advocate Manoj Rajagopal, a member of the State Committee of the BJP Legal Cell.
However, the plea said that the incident shocked him and that it could have been averted if the hospital had been provided with enough security.
The plea said, “The doctor’s community across the State has frequently demanded the Government to provide necessary security to the hospitals. The physical attack towards doctors has been increasing day by day.”
Furthermore, “The police are duty bound to forecast such a dangerous situation of a hospital; thus, they should be much more efficient and alert during their duty hours.
Retreat/run away from an encounter by police cannot be justified under any circumstances.”
According to the petitioner, there was a systemic failure in the matter that led to the murder of Dr. Das.
The plea added that “In fact, it has violated the fundamental right guaranteed to Dr. Vanadana Das under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
Rajagopal stated that he apprehends that there is foul play in the probe since Sandeep is allegedly a member of the service organization affiliated with CPI(M). The other factor that contributed to his apprehension is that there are material discrepancies in the narration of the incident by the police in the FIR.
Therefore, the petitioner approached the Court seeking compensation of ₹1 crore to be granted to the parents of the deceased. He also sought orders to ensure that the investigation into the case is monitored by the Court.
Afterward, he said that guidelines should be issued by the Court to provide security to nurses, doctors, and other staff in hospitals across the State and for directions to the State government for providing armed police officials in all casualties of government hospitals across the State.
