Karnataka: Retired Judge to probe death of 24 COVID-19 patients
The Karnataka government on Wednesday appointed retired High Court judge Justice BA Patil as the one-man commission to inquire into the death of 24 COVID-19 patients in Chamarajanagar District allegedly owing to oxygen shortage. A notification regarding the appointment of Justice Patil was issued by the Additional Chief Secretary in the Home Department, Rajneesh Goel on Wednesday. Here are more details.
Report to be submitted in one month
The term of reference of the Commission read, "To inquire into the circumstances and events leading to the death of COVID-19 patients in District Hospital, Chamarajanagar on May 3, reportedly due to scarcity of oxygen and any further similar incidents, which are entrusted to the Commission of Inquiry by Government." The office of the commission has to submit its report in one month.
All requisite documents to be handed over to Inquiry Commission
The notification said that the officers concerned including the Deputy Commissioners of Chamarajanagar and Mysuru districts should hand over immediately all requisite documents and material evidence to the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Department for onward submission to the Inquiry Commission.
The Bench also questioned the mechanism of oxygen supply
The order came following the directions of the Karnataka High Court, which had taken a serious note of the deaths in Chamarajanagar and recommended a judicial inquiry. The bench of High Court also questioned the mechanism of oxygen supply across various hospitals in the state, Bar and Bench reported. The bench was headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar.
On Tuesday, seven COVID-19 patients died in Kalaburagi and Belagavi
The State Health Minister Dr. K Sudhakar had maintained that only three deaths took place due to shortage of oxygen and not 24 as has been reported. The opposition Congress, however, claimed that 28 people died Close on the heels of the Chamarajanagar incident, seven COVID-19 patients died in Kalaburagi and Belagavi districts allegedly due to lack of oxygen on Tuesday morning.
Karnataka reported 44,631 fresh cases on Tuesday
There has been an unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases in the state. On Tuesday, Karnataka reported 44,631 fresh cases, thus taking the state tally to 16,90,934. The state has so far recorded 16,538 COVID-19 deaths and 12,10,013 COVID-19 recoveries.
'Death of COVID-19 patient due to oxygen shortage is genocide'
Notably, the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court have also taken suo motu cognizance about persistent oxygen shortage across the country. On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court observed that the death of coronavirus patients due to oxygen shortage at hospitals is "not less than a genocide" at the hands of the authorities assigned the task to ensure uninterrupted supply of the life-saving gas.
India reported 3,780 fresh COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday
India reported a record number of 3,780 fresh COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, the highest number of single-day fatalities since the pandemic began. The number of single-day infections also rose to 3.82 lakh even as the number of tests dropped to 15.4 lakh.
