Court directs hospital to submit RS Agarwal's treatment details

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the state-run SSKM Hospital to submit details of treatment and health report of R S Agarwal, one of the arrested directors of AMRI Hospital where a devastating fire killed 93 persons.

Taking up the bail prayer of Agarwal, a division bench of Justice Asim Kumar Roy and Justice Asim Ray directed the superintendent of SSKM Hospital to submit the report on Monday, when the matter would be taken up for hearing again.

Agarwal, who was in a private hospital earlier on grounds of illness, was later shifted to the state-run facility on the orders of Alipore district court.

Agarwal's counsel Balai Roy submitted that he was ill and as such should be granted bail. Roy also claimed that though Agarwal was a director of the seven-storied centrally-airconditioned annexe building of the hospital at Dhakuria in south Kolkata, he cannot be directly blamed for the fire there on December nine.

The prosecution contested the claim, saying that the basement from where the fire started was supposed to be a car park, but the hospital authorities had set up a medical store, godown and also an office there, flouting all norms. The prosecution submitted that such changes must have been with the approval of the directors and as such they could not absolve themselves of responsibility. Another director R S Goenka has also filed his bail prayer before the court and is likely to be taken up for hearing on a later date.