Court denies bail to on-duty doctor Akash

NEW DELHI: A court in Delhi dismissed the bail plea of Dr Akash, an ayurvedic doctor on duty during a fire at a private hospital on May 25 that claimed the lives of seven newborns and injured five.

The court criticised Dr Akash’s presence in the most critical ward despite being an ayurvedic doctor and denounced his statement suggesting the infants died from suffocation, not burns, as “highly insensitive.”

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand presided over the hearing, where Dr Akash and the hospital owner, Dr Naveen Khichi, were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days on May 30.

The court rejected claims that Dr. Akash was a trainee and revealed he provided treatment and prescriptions to the infants. Despite having a BAMS degree and being entitled to practice only in Haryana, Dr Akash worked in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the hospital. The court criticised his decision to work in a critical ward without logical justification.

Additionally, the court dismissed arguments that praised Dr Akash’s efforts to save children, citing evidence that he fled the hospital during the fire and wasted valuable time contacting the hospital owner instead of emergency services. The court emphasised the seriousness of the offenses and ongoing investigations, including Dr Akash’s potential supervisory role and his actions during the incident.

Due to the possibility of Dr Akash fleeing or influencing witnesses, the court ruled that he must approach a higher court for bail.

The incident occurred at the Baby Care New Born Child Hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar that was allegedly being run illegaly with an expired licence.