While rejecting Dr Akash’s bail plea, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand denied the allegation that he was working as a medical intern in a private hospital and said investigations had revealed that he was providing treatment and dispensing prescriptions to babies.
Police officers stand outside a children’s hospital which caught fire (Saturday night) in New Delhi’s Vivek Vihar area on Sunday. (PTI)
New Delhi: A city court on Monday dismissed the bail petition of an Ayurvedic doctor on duty at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a private hospital where seven newborns died in a fire accident on May 25, as no logical reason had been given as to why the doctor, a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) graduate, was keen to learn the practice of allopathic medicine by working in the critical care ward of the hospital.
The court rejected the doctor’s argument that he had worked at the hospital as a medical intern.
While rejecting Dr Akash’s bail plea, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand denied the allegation that he was working as a medical intern in a private hospital and said investigations had revealed that he was providing treatment and dispensing prescriptions to babies.
What did the court say?
“Though the accused Dr Akash knew that as a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) doctor as per the Haryana Medical Council certificate he was entitled to practice only in the state of Haryana, he went ahead and started working in the most sensitive area of the hospital i.e. the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU),” the court said, adding, “No logical reason has been given as to why Dr Akash, despite being a BAMS doctor, was keen to learn the practice of allopathic medicine and even went so far as to work in the critical care ward of the hospital.”
The doctor was on duty at the private hospital where a fire broke out on May 25, killing seven newborns.
Dr Akash was the doctor on duty at the private hospital where a fire broke out on May 25, killing seven newborns and injuring five. He and the owner of the private hospital, Dr Naveen Khiti, are currently in judicial custody in the case. They were sent to 14-day judicial custody in the case on May 30.
The court also called out as “grossly insensitive” the doctor’s comments that the newborn was not a fire victim because he had died of suffocation, not burns, and rejected the lawyer’s argument that the doctor should be praised for his efforts to save the child.
Police investigation reveals doctor fled hospital when fire broke out: court
“Police investigation revealed that when the fire broke out, he fled the hospital and instead of calling the police or fire department, he called the hospital management, wasting around 30 minutes in the process which could have saved the life of the newborn baby,” the court said.
The court said the alleged offences are serious and investigation into the case is at an early stage and there are several aspects of the investigation such as the accused’s role as a supervisor, the recovery of prescriptions signed by him and his role in delaying in reporting to the police and fire service, which are yet to be examined in detail and the possibility of the doctor absconding from legal proceedings and influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out.
