HC decision on security still awaited

Chembur resident Mohan Nerurkar filed a criminal writ petition on the lax security set-up in government hospitals in the Bombay high court in 2009. It was turned into a public interest litigation and admitted in 2010, but the verdict is still awaited.

His three-day-old son was kidnapped from Sion hospital on January 1, 2009.

“There is no doubt that the decision will be a landmark one as it will fix the liability of the loss caused by such incidents... we expect the matter to come up for final hearing anytime now,” said Nerurkar’s lawyer Amit Karkhanis.

He added that the main demand in the petition was that the BMC should be held responsible for whatever happens in civic hospitals. 

A division bench of justice Ranjana Desai and justice RG Ketkar issued guidelines for government/semi government/civic hospitals quoting 23 remedial measures to prevent theft of babies. The guidelines included installing CCTV cameras, posting female security guards outside neonatal and post natal wards and ensuring biometric identification facility.

In the last hearing, the BMC had filed a compliance affidavit. “The claims on paper are just bold in words, but there hardly seems to be an action. The incident of Wadia hospital will once more reveal the hollowness in the assurances given by the BMC strengthening the fear expressed by my clients in their petition,” said Karkhanis.