New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said hospitals cannot show negligence in treating victims of serious crimes requiring immediate medical attention, as it decided to frame broad guidelines for hospitals and law enforcement agencies to ensure that such lapses do not recur.
The apex court directed two private hospitals in Ghaziabad to pay a total compensation of ₹12 lakh to the family of a four-year-old rape victim who died after allegedly being denied emergency treatment.
The court directed two private hospitals to pay a compensation of ₹12 lakh to the family of a rape victim who died after allegedly being denied emergency treatment
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said the case exposed serious failures on the part of both the police and hospitals.
“Both law enforcement agencies and medical institutions have been found lacking. We want to lay down the law. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has certain safeguards but there exists a gap between the normative law prescribing the statutory mechanism and the law in real which exists at the ground level. Our effort is to bridge that gap,” the bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said.
The court added, “We are further inclined to lay down guidelines for timely medical assistance to victims in such cases.”
The bench was hearing a petition filed by the victim’s father, a daily wage labourer, seeking a court-monitored probe into the March incident. The court had earlier constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which found lapses in both the police investigation and the medical response.
