MP High Court Directs State To Airlift Gas Pipeline Blast Victim To Ahmedabad, Bear Entire Treatment Cost

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the State authorities to airlift a woman, who sustained severe burn injuries in a gas pipeline explosion allegedly triggered by an illegal borewell-digging work in Indore, for specialized treatment at Ahmedabad.Taking a serious note of the victim's condition in her brother's intervention application, the division bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai directed; "On due consideration of the submissions and upon a perusal of the photographs of the victim, this Court is inclined to accept the said prayer. Accordingly, the learned counsel for the State is directed to ensure that the injured, Ms. Jini Jwala, is airlifted from Indore to Ahmedabad as expeditiously as possible for treatment at Zydus Hospital, Ahmedabad". These observations were made in a public interest litigation filed by Advocate Ritesh Inani, highlighting the explosion that occurred in the Vijay Nagar area of Indore city during the drilling of a borewell. Per the petition, on June 23, 2026, a borewell drilling activity was being carried out, allegedly by a local councillor at the site of Vijay Nagar in Indore. During such excavation, an underground gas pipeline laid and maintained by Avantika Gas Limited was damaged. The damaged pipeline caused underground gas to leak in the area, which caused a massive fire and explosion, resulting in serious injuries to the residents. The petition noted that before the incident, the District Collector of Indore had issued directions to prohibit the borewell drilling and allied excavation activities till June 30, 2026. Despite these restrictions, the borewell drilling activity was alleged to have been undertaken. The petition claimed that the incident disclosed prima facie negligence on the part of the authorities and their lack of coordination for granting permissions, supervising excavation activities and maintaining underground utility networks. Therefore, the petition sought an independent, impartial and time-bound inquiry into the fire and explosion that occurred during the borewell drilling incident. The petition also sought the constitution of a High-Level Inquiry Committee or Special Investigation Team to investigate the incident. During the court hearing of June 24, the petitioner informed the court that 3 persons had been badly burnt and were not being properly treated. The counsel for the State, however, sought time to seek instruction on the treatment and medical expenses of the injured persons by Bombay Hospital in Indore. Subsequently, the counsel for the Municipal Corporation submitted that necessary instructions were already issued to the Bombay Hospital not to charge any amount from injured individuals. However, the brother of one of the victims also filed an application seeking intervention to shift the victim to Zydus Hospital, Ahmedabad, claiming that although the surgery was performed, the specialised treatment for such burn injuries was exclusively available at Zydus Hospital, Ahmedabad. Considering the condition of the victim, the bench allowed the intervention application and directed the Commissioner of the Health Department, Bhopal, the Collector of Indore and the CMHO of Indore to make necessary arrangements. Case Title: Ritesh Inani v State of Madhya Pradesh, WP-23532-2026For Petitioners: Advocates Shrvan Kumar Lahoti, Jayesh Mehta, with Ritesh Inani (petitioner-in-person)For State: Government Advocate Amit Bhatia For Intervenor: Advocate Manoj Kumar AgrawalFor Municipal Corporation: Advocate Rishi TiwariClick here to read/download the Order

MP High Court Directs State To Airlift Gas Pipeline Blast Victim To Ahmedabad, Bear Entire Treatment Cost

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MP High Court Directs State To Airlift Gas Pipeline Blast Victim To Ahmedabad, Bear Entire Treatment Cost

Jayanti Pahwa

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