After rigging in the blood bank of Gulab Devi Hospital in Jalandhar came to the fore, the High Court had taken cognizance of the matter and by expanding the scope of the petition, the Haryana government was also made a respondent.
The Punjab-Haryana High Court had started the hearing after taking cognizance of the rigging of the defaulter blood banks. When the petition reached for hearing again, the High Court questioned the investigation being done in both the states in this matter.
The court said that till now it is not known from the stand of the government that they are serious in this matter. Every time, on the orders of the court, only by handing over the investigation report, the responsibility is assumed to be complete.
So far the court has not been informed as to what action has been taken against the accused of rigging. Also, what steps have been taken to ensure that this type of rigging does not happen in future.
The court said that blood is very important to save the lives of the people and with this blood the lives of the people are being played with. From the action taken by the police so far, it appears that the police are trying to save the accused. The High Court said that now both the states will have to present the Action Taken Report in this matter.
Earlier on 10th July, the hC observed that “As per the documents placed on record, while a joint inspection by the central authorities and the drugs authorities of Jalandhar was conducted at Gulab Devi Hospital in that city, nothing has been placed on record by the authorities in respect of any inspection or action taken by them in respect of the other 10 blood banks run by the same accused persons or in respect of any inspection conducted in the five named hospitals in Punjab and one in Haryana, observed the high court while adjourning the matter for August 3 for further hearing.
The HC also “regrettably” recorded serious displeasure in the manner in which the authorities of the state of Punjab have taken up the matter related to alleged irregularities committed by some of those running blood banks in Punjab. Division bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha and Justice Arun Palli of the HC has passed these orders while hearing the issue.
The issue involved in the writ petition related to gross irregularities being committed by blood banks under the nose of the authorities in Punjab and Haryana. The HC on previous occasions had passed several orders asking the states to inform the court about the steps taken by them.”
