Goa.. The establishment of a judicial commission for the investigation of deaths from oxygen scarcity is one of a number of suggestions made by applicants in the PILs group concerning the management of Covid 19 in Goa.
In response to a pandemic which has claimed 2 937 lives in India’s smallest state, the High Court of Bombshell in Goa had asked the petitioners to make their consolidated proposals to the court to find solutions to various questions.
In eight cases before the court, petitioners made suggestions. One of the petitioners, the South Goa Advocates Association(SGAA), suggested that some Covid-19 patients only died of a shortage of oxygen. Some of them were breadwinners, and children had lost both parents.
SGAA said that these families must be identified and reimbursed. “The Honorable Court is therefore proposed as a committee of investigation headed by an Honourable Court retired judge together with the first grade Judicial Magistrate, two independent doctors, a deputy police officer and other necessary staff…”
The SGAA proposed not only that the commission track victims and dependents, but also that the compensation to be paid to dependents should also be determined.
The committee was also asked to detect negligence, if any, on the part of government officials leading to the oxygen supply shortage in the state at the top of the second wave in May.
Goa Minister of Health Vishwajit Rane had caused a storm when on May 11 he claimed that in the early hours of the day 26 individuals died of a drop in oxygen levels at Goa Medical College (GMC) and the Hospital and sought an investigation by the high Court.
The High Court, which already received a bunch of Covid-19 PILs, had asked for an immediate oxygen shortage from the state government in GMC, which would replace its system of tractor-touted oxygen trolleys, with a liquid medicinal oxygen tank of 20,000 litre.
The Acting Dean of GMC S M Bandekar said the drop in oxygen concentration and death in Covid-19 patients had no correlation. SGAA also suggested that a committee of professionals like doctors and statistician officials should be set up by the state government to conduct a full audit in the state of Goa of COVID 19 deaths.
“The SGAA submitted to the Court on Monday will reveal not just how many COVID-19 deaths were, but will also help the authorities concerned save lives during the upcoming third COVID-19 wave.”
In a PIL submitted by the activist Armando Gonsalves, lawyers Akash Rebello, Rui Gomes Pereira, and Varun Bandanker suggested that the state government should insist on a negative test report on the RT-PCR in order to improve its accuracy over other tests.
A 30-page chart of proposals made by petitioners is expected by the state government to file its response. On 17 June, the Court will continue to hear the case.
