HC issues notice to govt over denial of medical aid at Mahabubabad civil hospital

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday took a stern view of medical negligence by initiating a sou motu PIL following a harrowing incident at the Mahabubabad civil hospital where a patient was allegedly denied treatment for failing to produce an Aadhaar card. A division bench, led by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin, issued notices to the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary (Medical and Family Welfare), the Director of Medical Education, the district collector, and the superintendent of the hospital.

The judicial intervention, registered as PIL, stems from a formal letter addressed to the Chief Justice by advocate Bathini Komuraiah, who highlighted the gross violation of fundamental rights and the “lethargic action” of hospital staff that nearly cost a man his life. Details of the case are particularly distressing as they involve V Ravi of Jayyaram village suffering from chronic kidney ailments, who was reportedly abandoned in a hospital corridor for three days.

Komuraiah, appearing before the bench, argued that the hospital staff refused to admit the patient simply because he lacked an attendant and identification documents. The neglect reached a critical point when the patient collapsed in the canteen corridor and was presumed dead by the staff, who moved him to the mortuary.

It was only through the alertness of the sweepers who noticed signs of life and alerted the police, that Ravi was rescued from the mortuary and finally provided with the medical attention he required. The bench converted the advocate’s grievance letter into a formal writ, emphasising that the denial of basic medicare on flimsy administrative grounds constitutes a breach of the constitutional right to life and health.