Calcutta HC asks SSKM to file affidavit on medical reports of influential patients admitted there

Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the authorities of state-run S.S.K.M Medical College & Hospital in South Kolkata to file an affidavit detailing the medical condition of the "influential" patients admitted there.

The division bench of Chief Justice T.S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya gave the direction to the S.S.K.M authorities after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed last month accusing S.S.K.M of becoming a safe shelter for the masterminds of different financial scams in West Bengal.

The division bench on Thursday directed that S.S.K.M authorities in their affidavit should identify the influential and high-profile patients admitted there, their current medical condition, the kind of treatment they are undergoing and the approximate time required to complete their treatment process and relieve them.

The counsel for the petitioner argued in the court that none of these influential patients admitted at S.S.K.M currently are under any life-support system. “They are moving around on their feet. They are virtually leading a normal life,” the counsel argued.

The Chief Justice then observed that if the allegations raised are true then the matter is really serious. According to him, in that case there should be a separate ward for the influential patients.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also argued in favour of the petitioner’s accusations against the S.S.K.M authorities. He said that at the end of the central agency custody, the accused persons are sent to judicial custody. “If the superintendent of the correctional home concerned feels any patient can be transferred to any hospital. Such transfers have become regular in case of S.S.K.M,” he argued.

Thereafter, the division bench directed the S.S.K.M authorities to submit the affidavit regarding the same.