Aurangabad, May 25:
The Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court comprising Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice B U Debadwar today instructed the politicians not to give political colour to the issues like 150 ventilators supplied to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) under PM Cares Fund are of sub-standard quality and a majority of them are defunct. The court also expressed its displeasure stating that you are not the experts, therefore, unnecessarily do not play with the lives of patients.
A 'Suo Motu' public interest litigation (PIL) was heard before the bench on May 25. The newspaper was the first to publish the news stating the majority of the ventilators supplied to GMCH under PM Cares Fund are defunct between May 12 and 25. Hence the High Court took cognizance of the news and other published news relating to it like statements and demands made by political leaders of various parties during their visit to GMCH; failure of manufacturing company's engineers in repairing ventilators; the struggle of local administration to repair them instead of returning the defunct ventilators and lying of expensive equipment and machinery in GMCH's super speciality ward. Hence the bench today ordered the Central Government's lawyer assistant solicitor general Ajay Talhar to obtain a detailed report on ventilators and submit a report mentioning what is the Central Government's policy about replacing the defunct ventilators, on Friday.
Today's hearing was attended by the amicus curiae Adv Satyajeet Bora, chief government pleader D R Kale representing the state government, Adv Santosh Chapalgaonkar pleading on behalf of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, Adv Radhakrushna Hingole (Nanded Municipal Corporation), Adv Dhananjay Shinde (Parbhani Municipal Corporation), senior doctors of GMCH, senior officials of the Department of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), etc.