New Delhi, Jan 30
The Supreme Court Friday
inquired if families of 14 women who lost their lives Nov 11, 2014,
following botched-up sterilisation operations at a Chhattisgarh
government-sponsored family planning camp in Bilaspur hospital were paid
compensation as directed by its 2005 order.
The social justice
bench comprising Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit
sought information noting that the apex court by its March 1, 2005
verdict had issued nine directions of which the last provided for
compensation to the victim of faulty sterilisation.
"The ladies
who died in Chhattisgarh in November 2014 should be paid this amount,"
the court told Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar as it gave him four weeks
time to furnish details on the steps taken by the state government to
comply with court's 2005 directions.
"We also direct the state of
Chhattisgarh to file an affidavit indicating the steps that have been
taken to ameliorate the conditions of the persons who faced recent
tragedy in sterilization camps in Bilaspur where a large number of
persons are said to have died," the order said.
The court further
sought details on the "action that has been taken against the doctors
involved and what steps have been taken to educate the people in the
state of Chhattisgarh with regard to sterilization".
The court
also said that the state "will also ensure that the payments are made
under the indemnity scheme framed by the central government at the
earliest."
Apparently having some misgivings whether its 2005
directions were complied with both in letter and spirit, the court noted
that only thing the Chhattisgarh government have done is suspended the
officials.
At this, senior counsel Colin Gonsalves told the
court that "slowly they will come back", and cited the "equally very
bad" situation in Bihar.
Gonsalves who appeared for the PIL
petitioner Devika Biswas told the court that Chhattisgarh government was
now blaming the drug companies and the drugs for the deaths in
Bilaspur.
The apex court March 1, 2005 had issued nine
directions to bring uniformity in the steps to be taken to regulate
sterilisation procedures. One of them said that the central government
would lay down the norms for the payment of compensation and the same
would be followed uniformly by all the states.
Seeking over-all
details on the implementation of its 2005 directions, the court told
Ranjit Kumar: "Keep this Chhattisgarh incident in mind. Chhattisgarh
incident is fresh."
The court said that Ranjit Kumar would ensure
that a "consolidated chart is prepared indicating the status of
implementation of each of the directions given by this court" in 2005 as
well as the directions sought for by Biswas, who sought declaration
that sterilization camp surgeries conducted in unhygienic and unethical
conditions violated fundamental rights guaranteed under articles 14, 15
and 21 of the constitution.
She had also sought the
Implementation of "Standard Operating Procedures for Female and Male
Sterilization (2006)", "Quality Assurance Manual for Sterilization
Services (2006)", and the "Standard Operating Procedures for
Sterilization Services in Camps (2008)" issued by the central
government.
The court directed the listing of the matter on March
20 with respect to disbursement of funds under the Indemnity Scheme and
on April 17 with regard to status of implementation of the directions.
