On Tuesday, May 15, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Dr. Satish Kumar. Dr. Kumar was in prison in relation to an incident that took place in Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, in August 2017, in which 30 children died, allegedly because of the lack of oxygen. Dr. Kumar headed the anaesthesia department at the hospital. The Court noted in its order that Dr. Kumar spent seven months in custody, and that he “is a qualified medical practitioner with no prior criminal history. The complete order may be found here.
Dr. Kumar was accused of being derelict in his duty for allegedly being away from the hospital without permission during the oxygen shortage, and for not notifying his superiors of the lack of oxygen once Pushpa Sales, the supplier, had halted the supply. Dr. Kumar has been charged with attempt to commit culpable homicide (Section 308), forgery, and criminal conspiracy (Section 120) under the Indian Penal Code, and has also been charged under sections of the Information Technology Act and Prevention of Corruption Act.
Speaking to The Hindu, Kumar’s counsel, Dileep Kumar, said that Satish Kumar was not involved in the payment process for the oxygen, that there was “no deliberate negligence” on his part, and that Dr. Kumar’s plea was accepted because there was no “cogent evidence” against him. The counsel said that Dr. Kumar “was not assigned any duty, except for the additional charge of maintenance of oxygen pipeline and storage tank, which he carried out well. He would inform the medical superintendent and principal, who are responsible for the oxygen supply and payment, whenever there was a shortage”. Dileep Kumar also said that, following a “proper application endorsed” by the hospital’s principal, Dr. Kumar was away to attend his son’s convocation at IIT-Bombay on August 12, and that when he found out about the children’s deaths, he returned to Gorakhpur without having attended the convocation. “His conduct says there is no complicity on his behalf,” the counsel said.
Prior to the approval of Dr. Kumar’s bail application, Dr. Kafeel Khan, who was part of the hospital’s paediatric department, and Manish Bhandari, who supplied the oxygen, were also granted bail. The Allahabad High Court has denied bail for the principal, Rajiv Mishra, and his wife, Poornima Shukla.