Madras High Court Rejects Plea Against Use of Rail Coaches for the Coronavirus-Hit Patients

Chennai, April 11: The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to bar the use of railway coaches for COVID-19 patients, saying it cannot interfere with the government's decision on the matter unless it is perverse or illegal. Also, the court said the conversion of coaches into wards for coronavirus patients cannot be prevented as it involves the interest of public at large and this court cannot sit on the administrative side and express its view in respect of conversion of coaches.

Justice S Vaidyanathan dismissed the petition of M.Munusamy after hearing the counsels appearing for the Railways. The judge said,"... the Government is going to use carriages only as isolation wards and not hospitals for the present." Coronavirus Outbreak in India: Indian Railways Tasked to Make Ventilators, Non-AC Train Coaches to be Isolation Wards.

Counsels have submitted that coaches, which are going to be used for accommodating mildly and very mildly coronavirus patients, would be moved to particular places and villages, having no place for isolating them to ensure maintaining social distancing.

It was further said such converted coaches would not be provided with any ventilators for giving treatment to patients, clearly meaning thereby that the government has no idea to substitute coaches for hospitals. The judge, while saying the present petition appears to have been filed only with an intent to gain publicity, dismissed the plea.

He rejected another prayer of the petitioner for direction to the government to increase the strength of private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. He said if such an order is given, the hospitals, which have been constructed violating the sanctioned building plan, may also seek for regularisation of the plan on the ground that they were given permission by the government to treat coronavirus patients.

He further said one cannot expect the private hospitals always to be service-oriented, as the administration of certain private hospitals has already gone into the hands of corporate agents/money-makers. If the doctors do not fall prey to exploiting private hospitals, their profession is the best in the world, he said.

Of course, there are always a few bad elements in any profession and the medical profession is not an exception. In this critical situation, the yeoman service that is being rendered by doctors to COVID-19 patients cannot be allowed to slip from memory forever, the judge said.

This court really extends its profound appreciation to doctors, nurses, police, Last Grade Employees of Corporation and the officials of the Health Department, he added.

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