TN govt rapped for failure to pay balance compensation

The Madras High Court today pulled up Tamil Nadu government for failing to disburse Rs two lakh from the total compensation amount of Rs five lakh each to 16 people who contracted Hepatitis C while undergoing dialysis at the Government Stanley Medical Hospital here in August 2014.
The state government had already disbursed the first instalment of Rs three lakh to the victims.
The First bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh, was hearing a petition by one Jayaram Venkatesan seeking a direction to the Health Department to provide special treatment to the patients and award them adequate compensation, besides constituting an expert committee to ascertain the cause for spread of the virus in the hospital.

The bench directed the government official in charge of disbursing the compensation amount to appear before it on April 27.
The matter relatesto 16 patients who contracted Hepatitis C while undergoing dialysis at the Government Stanley Medical Hospital in August 2014.
The petitioner submitted that the patients contracted the virus allegedly due to negligence on the part of the hospital in not following the infection control mechanism.

Earlier, when the matter came up for hearing on September 21, 2015, the Government Pleader (GP) had stated that the compensation of Rs three lakh had been disbursed and that a further Rs two lakh per head had been sanctioned, which would be disbursed soon.

When the matter came up today, the GP sought to withdraw the statement, prompting the bench to call for records and the person incharge of taking the decision related to disbursing the amount, to appear before court on April 27, 2016.
In April, 2015 the court had directed the state government to pay adequate interim compensation to the affected persons.