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The Supreme Court today closed a suo motu case taken up in 2015 over the suicide of a parent-couple following the tragic death of their 7-year old child due to dengue.

Allegedly, the child passed away after some hospitals denied him admission citing shortage of beds. 

A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana closed the matter, while recording a statement of the counsel for Delhi Cantonment Board that the direction for filing of an action taken plan had been complied with. It further recorded her undertaking that the authorities are conscious of their responsibility and will continue to take necessary preventive measures in future. 

To recap, the 7-year old child was alleged to have been taken to Moolchand Hospital, Max Hospital, Akash Hospital and Irene Hospital, but he was denied admission.

The parents' suicide led to massive outrage, resulting in the Union and Delhi governments initiating separate enquiries. The Delhi government issued notice to all hospitals, while the named hospitals were asked to explain why their registration should not be cancelled. 

While Max and Moolchand Hospitals denied having refused treatment to the child, Aakash and Irene Hospitals cited lack of proper ICU facilities as the reason behind denying treatment to him. 

In November 2017, the Supreme Court observed that a major cause behind vector borne diseases (like dengue) was lack of proper solid waste management. It limited the scope of the matter to this issue. The last order, before today, was passed in February 2019, when the Court directed NDMC, MCD and the Delhi Cantonment to file an action plan. 

Notably, the Supreme Court recently came upon a case where a 4-year old victim of rape and murder in Ghaziabad was allegedly denied treatment by 2 private hospitals while she was alive. A bench led by CJI Kant constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the case and observed that the hospitals were "criminally negligent" and highly insensitive for denying treatment to the child perhaps because she belonged to a poor family. 

After the Court's nudge, the hospitals agreed to pay a voluntary sum of Rs.12 lakhs to the victim's family. During the hearing of this case, the Court indicated that it will frame guidelines to ensure prompt medical care for victims of sexual assault and in other medical emergencies. 

Case: IN RE: OUTRAGE AS PARENTS END LIFE AFTER CHILD'S DENGUE DEATH SMW(C) No. 1/2015

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