By IANS,
New Delhi : Concerned over the plight of terminally ill patients lodged in Tihar jail, the Delhi High Court Monday sought medical records of 16 such patients. The order comes after the judge visited the jail Saturday.
Justice Pradeep Nandrajog questioned the jail Superintendent for not providing adequate medical treatment to the inmates suffering from diseases like cancer and asked him to file a detailed status report by Feb 18.
“From the 12 medical records, it was evident that the said 16 terminally-ill patients had no more than 2-6 months to live. These patients require special medical attention which was not available in the jail hospital,” the judge said.
The court also directed the jail authorities to provide names of all other terminally-ill inmates in jail.
Referring the matter for initiation of a criminal contempt against the jail officials, Justice Nandrajog sent the matter to the high court chief justice to deal it as a public interest litigation.