'HC summons pr secy, medical college principal to explain contradictions in their affidavits

The Allahabad High Court Thursday summoned Uttar Pradesh Medical Education Department's principal secretary and Motilal Nehru Medical College principal to explain discrepancies in their affidavits on the functioning of trauma centre in the college.

A bench of justices Sudhir Agarwal and Ajit Kumar summoned Principal Secretary Rajneesh Dubey and medical college principal S P Singh after detecting contradictions in their affidavits.

While Dubey had stated in his affidavit that the trauma centre was fully functional in the medical college, Singh had said it was not operational, though those referred to the medical college were getting due medical treatment.

The bench ordered the duo to appear before it on January 19 to explain the contradictions.

The bench had asked the duo earlier to file their affidavits on a lawsuit by state native Sneh Lata Singh, alleging that the government hospitals in the state were in pathetic conditions.

The bench Thursday also expressed displeasure over state chief secretary's failure in filing a compliance report on the court's March 2018 order, asking the state government to take various steps to improve the condition of government hospitals.

The court had asked the state government to fill up vacancies of medical, para medical and other staffers in the government hospitals and have their functioning and accounts audited by Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

The court had asked the chief secretary to file a compliance report on its orders, but it was filed by the Medical and Health Department's secretary instead.

The bench ordered the chief secretary to file the requisite compliance report in two weeks, failing which, it said, he will have to appear before it to explain his failure on the next date of hearing.

In its March 2018 order, the court had also directed the state's Vigilance director general to constitute special teams to find out who among the state's medical officers were engaged in private practice or running private hospitals or nursing homes and register FIRs against them.