BANGALORE: The state government has been directed to submit a detailed report on three-year-old Mariam Kausar slipping into a coma after she was allegedly given an overdose of anaesthesia at a government hospital.
The Division bench of Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri on Monday issued the direction on a petition filed by city-based lawyer Latha Rao. She claimed that the government had not provided any medical aid to the girl. The advocate for the government, however, submitted that the state has already cleared a bill of around Rs 8 lakh towards the girl’s treatment.
Mariam Kausar underwent a surgery for a fracture in her left hand at Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedics on December 16 and slipped into a coma hours after her surgery. Her family accused doctors of negligence and shifted her to a private hospital where she is undergoing treatment.
The petitioner also alleged that the hospital authorities removed her from the ventilator as her parents failed to pay the bill. To this, the government advocate said doctors who were found guilty in an inquiry have already been suspended.
The court has, however, asked the government to file a report on the total medical expenditure, treatment needed and provided to the girl and her condition. It has also asked the registry to add the legal aid authority and Kausar’s parents as party to the case so that they can also be heard and represented.
1.47 Lakh Borewells Sealed: State
The state government has in the last one month sealed 1.47 lakh open borewells, the court was told on Monday.
The government made the submission during the hearing of a suo motu petition initiated by the court over the deaths of children who fell into open borewells. Of the sealed borewells, 48,673 were government borewells while there were 99,107 private borewells in the state.
The government further submitted that it has issued a circular to close all open and abandoned borewells and for parties to obtain permission before drilling a borewell.
It also said as per the new policy, the district administration will initiate action against land owners and borewell agencies which fail to close defunct borewells as well as against those who have not obtained permission prior to drilling a new borewell.
No Relief for Seer
The court has reserved an order on the petition filed by pontiff Raghaveshwara Bharathi seeking to quash a complaint of sexual assault against him.
A devotee had lodged a complaint with the Banshankari police stating that the seer had sexually harassed her since 2010 and threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone. The complaint was transferred to Girinagar police later.
A magistrate court which heard the matter had directed that the case be treated as rape and an FIR was filed against the seer, following which he challenged the lower court’s order in the High Court.
Pavagada TMC Pays Contractor’s Dues
The Pavagada Town Municipality Council (TMC) paid dues to an electric contractor after the High Court restrained the officers responsible from withdrawing their salaries.
Justice A N Venugopala Gowda on Monday disposed of a petition filed by M/s Maruthi Electricals, a company given the task of maintenance of streetlights in the town, as the Municipal officers cleared his dues which amounted to Rs 23.47 lakh and were pending since 2012.
The dues were cleared only after Justice Gowda ordered the restriction on withdrawal of the salaries of the officials concerned.
Maruthi Prasad, the proprietor of the company, was awarded the contract on October 10, 2012 and on November 27, 2013, he received an acknowledgment letter from the civic body.
Accordingly, he had raised a bill of Rs 23.47 lakh and submitted it to the authority. However, he alleged that the officials failed to clear his bills even after several reminders.
Aggrieved by this, Prasad moved the High Court against the civic body, Tumkur Deputy Commissioner and the Project Director of District Urban Development Authority.
During the hearing on August 18, advocate appearing for the government submitted that they would clear his dues in installments and that they would pay around Rs 1 lakh every month.
Not convinced with the submission, Justice Venugopala Gowda asked the civic authority to clear his bills as soon as possible and restrained the officials concerned — the Project Director of the District Urban Development Authority and the Chief Officer of Pavagada Town Municipality — from withdrawing their salaries.
Soon after the order, the officials cleared his payment.
On Monday, the advocate for the civic body submitted that the authorities had paid the entire amount to Prasad. After this submission, the court disposed of the petition and allowed the officials to withdraw their salaries.