Oxygen supplier of UP hospital where children died gets bail

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Manish Bhandari - the oxygen supplier to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur where a large number of children died in 2017.

Told that Bhandai had been in jail for seven months, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence punishable under Section 406 of the IPC is three years and Bhandai has already undergone about seven months.

Directing the release of Bhandari on bail, subject to terms and conditions to be imposed by the trial Judge, the bench noted that a chargesheet has been filed against him.

Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Bhandari.

The bail plea was opposed by advocate Aishwarya Bhati who appeared for Uttar Pradesh.

Bhati said the chargesheet has been filed under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and there were serious lapses, adding that Bhandari was operating business of supplying oxygen without a licence.

He said the oxygen for hospital purposes was covered under the Drugs Act and it can only be dealt with by licence holders, which Bhandari was not.

Bhandari, booked for criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under sections of the IPC, moved the top court challenging the Allahabad High Court order rejecting his bail plea.

Around 30 children died at the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur on August 10 and 11, 2017, reportedly due to shortage of liquid oxygen.

--IANS

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