The Patna High Court on Tuesday admonished the Bihar government for its poor handling of Covid-19 crisis and said the state administration should consider handing over the responsibility of COVID management to Indian Army if it is not efficient enough handle the crisis. The court asked the state government to submit their detail in two days before a final decision is taken, news agency ANI reported.
The court was informed midway of the state government’s decision to impose lockdown till May 15. “At least one order has been complied with,” the bench of Justices Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Mohit Kumar Shah remarked after it was apprised of the the government’s move.
The judges, however, minced no words in admonishing the state administration. ” “We have all failed. All of us feel ashamed for what we have done. Don’t make a joke of the proceedings.” the court said adding that this happened because the court relied on the false assurances of the state officials, Hindustan Times reported.
When state’s top law officer Lalit Kishore claimed that the state government has taken effective steps, the Court asked him not to make joke of the proceedings.
“You had spoken about 1,000 beds at the IGIMS (Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences) and 500 beds at the ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance) hospital, but it could not start. PMCH (Patna Medical College and Hospital) is in shambles, NMCH (Nalanda Medical College & Hospital) is struggling,” the bench said as per HT report.
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The court, however, did not pass any order after it was informed about the state-wide lockdown but made it clear it would pass “appropriate orders” on Thursday.
The Patna High Court had on Monday came down heavily on the state government over handling the second wave of the pandemic. It had asked Advocate General Lalit Kishore to talk to the chief minister on the urgent need of the lockdown. Bihar had reported 11,407 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and 82 more deaths.
