Govt must step aside from probe

Over the years, politicians in India have mastered the art of sweeping any controversial issue under the carpet by ordering an inquiry. The Chamarajanagar episode where 24 patients died in a government hospital due to oxygen outage is a glaring example. At present, there are at least four separate investigations being conducted by different agencies. These include a fact-finding committee of the Karnataka High Court, probe by IAS officer Shivayogi Kalasad, a judicial inquiry ordered by the state government and a suo motu case by the Lok Ayukta. The multitude of inquiries with the exception of the one ordered by the High Court, would serve no purpose but lead to duplication and ultimately end up with the guilty going unpunished.

It is illogical to expect an IAS officer to do justice because the needle of suspicion points not just towards his colleagues and superiors from the civil service including the chief secretary, but also to the negligence of politicians like the health minister. The deputy commissioners of Chamarajanagar and Mysuru have been sparring openly blaming each other for the tragedy. Under such circumstances, what purpose an inquiry by a bureaucrat will serve is anybody’s guess. In a bid to outsmart the High Court which had raised some tough questions, the Yediyurappa government ordered a judicial inquiry headed by Justice B A Patil. This only backfired with the chief justice observing that such a move when the court was still seized of the matter lacked propriety. The court then ordered seizure of all relevant documents and appointed an inquiry panel of its own comprising two retired judges.

The demise of 24 people due to sheer negligence of the authorities is no small matter. In a similar case in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court had observed that the “death of Covid patients due to non-supply of oxygen to hospital is a criminal act and not less than genocide by those responsible for ensuring the continuous procurement and supply”. Instead of complicating the issue through numerous inquiries, the state government should immediately withdraw from the inquiry. It should allow the High Court to take the lead as well as issue final directions on the course of the investigation. The court, on its part, should monitor any such inquiry and ensure that the culprits, howsoever high they may be, are brought to book, while the next of the kin of the deceased are compensated adequately. The heart-wrenching incident, as its videos brought out by Deccan Herald clearly shows, is a mirror to the incompetence and negligence of the authorities, as complained by the relatives of the unsuspecting victims. These relatives made it clear that shortage of oxygen was the main reason for the deaths of the two-dozen people.