Chamarajanagar tragedy: Panel report cites tampering with records

With the three-member committee finding suspected tampering with the records in connection with the Chamarajanagar hospital tragedy in which 24 patients died due to lack of oxygen, the High Court on Thursday directed that the records will continue to be in the custody of the Chief Secretary.

The committee of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA), headed by retired judge of the High Court Justice A N Venugopala Gowda, in its report pointed out incidents of possible tampering with the records.

One of the incidents of tampering with the record was noticed by the committee during the examination of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) register. The liquid oxygen tank with a capacity of 6 kilolitres was installed at the hospital premises some time ago.

However, the first filling of LMO had taken place only on April 29, 2021. The report stated that on May 1, this LMO tank was filled for the second time after being commissioned on April 29, but was exhausted in less than 30 hours. Though 40 jumbo cylinders were made available by district hospital, Mysuru, the cylinders reached Chamarajanagar only at 6 am on May 3.

Also read: Chamarajanagar tragedy due to lack of oxygen: Karnataka HC-appointed panel

“The examination of LMO register maintained from 29.04.2021 and two oxygen consumption registers maintained by the Bio-Medical Engineer, prima facie reveals that there has been manipulation by tampering of the registers. In the LMO register page No. 3 and 4 are missing,” the report said. The committee has also recommended that the hard discs of CCTVs/DVR be retained in the safe custody of the chief secretary.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar said that the direction to the chief secretary, issued last week to seize all records and to keep them in his custody, will continue to operate. The bench clarified that the commission of inquiry, constituted by the state government, can get access to the documents.

The committee report had also observed discrepancies in the preparation of the case sheets of the deceased. The entries in the case sheets, 28 made by one particular doctor and one case sheet by another doctor, appeared to have been made in one go, the report said.

Also Read | What led to the 24 deaths in Chamarajanagar? Recounting a night of horror and heartbreak

Some factual details were not entered in the case sheets with reference to even the time and date of death, while a number of printed forms were blank, without the particulars of the patient but contained only the signature of the Medical Officer, the report said.

Compensation

Meanwhile, the court reminded the government that as per the decisions of the Supreme Court, the families of the deceased will have to be compensated since it was due to the negligence of the state and its agency of
instrumentality.

The court put the government on notice that it can order compensation for violation of fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution in case the state fails to award compensation.