SC to hear plea on encephalitis outbreak today

June 24, 2019 10:01

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the Public Interest Litigation filed by two lawyers, in connection with the outbreak of the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district in which hundreds of children have lost their lives.

The plea, filed by advocates Manohar Pratap and Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, seeks a direction to urgently constitute a team of medical experts for treatment of children suffering from encephalitis.

A vacation bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant is slated to take up the plea.

The petition sought a direction to the Centre and the Bihar government to immediately arrange a 500-bed ICU (intensive care unit) with required medical professionals to deal with the emergent situation, which has occurred due to the outbreak of AES.

The two lawyers have also pleaded a direction to the Bihar government to notify an "extraordinary government order" directing all private medical institutions in the affected area to admit and provide treatment free of cost to the patients.

The PIL said that the disease is completely curable and lives of children are being lost due to the "inaction" of the state machinery, which "failed" to take any steps to prevent the outbreak.

Despite the death of more than 100 children, the state government has shown "no prompt" steps to prevent the spread of the disease in adjoining districts, the plea contended.

-- ANI

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