Contempt plea in HC against LNJP director, Delhi officials over unattended bodies

A contempt petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking action against the Delhi Chief Secretary, Health Secretary and the Director of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) over a video showing bodies lying unattended in the hospital.

The plea filed by advocate Avadh Kaushik sought the court's direction to the respondents to appear in person before it to explain their conduct for committing contempt of court by not complying with their own undertakings given before it.

The petitioner has cited that while the authorities claim that the orders of the court are being followed, videos from the hospital depict a different picture.

"The videos are absolutely shocking, disturbing and shameful. It can be seen in the videos that nude dead bodies and/or unconscious patients are lying on the floor of the wards beneath the same beds where critical Covid-19 patients are sitting," the plea said.

"The videos are more painful when it is revealed that not a single doctor or para-medical staff or even an orderly or ward boy is available in such wards. And this position prevails in many wards of the LNJP Hospital," it added.

The petitioner also sought the court's direction for constituting a committee of experts, including doctors and advocates or any other authority, to conduct an inspection of the LNJP Hospital and other hospitals to assess the current situation and submit its report to the court.

Kaushik also stated that these videos reveal that numerous bodies, apart from lying abandoned inside the wards, are also lying in the corridors of the said hospital without any attendant or staff present there to send them to the mortuary.

The plea also prayed for urgent direction to the LNJP administration and the Delhi government to take immediate remedial steps and provide adequate medical support to the Covid-19 patients admitted in different hospitals, and remove/dispose of bodies lying in the wards and corridors of the hospital(s) as per the protocols.