Junagadh HIV case: Victims' parents to file protest petition

Unhappy with the CBI's closure report on the HIV blood transfusion case in which six thalesemic kids died in Junagadh, their parents have decided to file a protest petition before a special court here.
"On August 1, the CBI filed its closure report and claimed that it did not find any substantial evidence to prove criminal negligence. So we decided to file a protest petition against the closure report after studying it," advocate Paresh Vaghela, who is fighting this case on behalf of the parents of the HIV-infected kids said.
After the closure report was filed in the CBI court here, Vaghela, lawyer of main complainant Ravji Saundrva, filed an application seeking a copy of the report and a compact disc (CD) submitted by the CBI, which has statements recorded by the CBI during investigation.

Hearing the application, CBI judge B G Doshi granted the request made by the complainant and adjourned the next hearing to October 7.
"The CBI court accepted our request today, to give us the copy of closure report along with the CD. After studying it, we will file our protest petition on October 7, when the next hearing will take place," Vaghela said.
The case dates back to 2011, when 30 children, suffering from thalassemia, were allegedly given HIV-infected blood during blood transfusion at Junagadh.
"Out of these 30 children, six died so far due to HIV infection. Based on a PIL filed at the Gujarat High Court, the case was then handed over to CBI during 2013 to find out who were responsible for such lapses and negligence of duty," Vaghela said.