Mumbai: The Bombay High Court bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj K Chavan has sought a response from the National Medical Council (NMC) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run JJ Hospital in a petition filed by a man alleging negligence as C-Section was performed under a mobile flashlight which led to the death of the woman and the stillborn child. The husband of the deceased has been alleging negligence and seeking compensation for the C-Section performed at the BMC run Sushma Swaraj Maternity Home in Bhandup. Pertinently, doctors from the JJ Hospital are part of a committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the deaths of the pregnant woman and her stillborn child. The JJ Hospital committee is expected to inform the Court about the time frame within which the enquiry would be concluded.
The petitioner, Khusruddin Ansari, had also alleged that he has not received the medical records of his wife despite multiple requests. After the surgery, his wife, Shaheedunissa, had been transferred to Sion Hospital in critical condition, where she later died. Ansari claimed that the hospital lacked adequate facilities and that doctors performed surgical procedures under the mobile torchlight due to a power outage.His petition noted that during her pregnancy, it was routinely recorded that both mother and fetus remained healthy.
The petition said that Shaheedunissa went into labor and was brought to the Sushma Swaraj Maternity Home at 8:20 AM. However, she was not taken into the operation theatre until 10:30 PM. During this time, the hospital experienced multiple power failures, and there were no inverters or generators available. The baby was delivered but did not cry, and was declared dead shortly after. Shaheedunissa was then transferred to Sion Hospital, where she was declared dead at 1:30 AM. Ansari had requested the medical records from both the Sushma Swaraj Maternity Home and Sion Hospital on May 22, but his requests were repeatedly ignored. The petition highlighted that, according to medical ethics regulations, medical records must be provided within 72 hours of a request.
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The bench questioned as to why the medical records had not been provided despite Supreme Court orders and regulations. Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Vithal Konde-Deshmukh responded that all papers except those from Sion Hospital had been provided, adding that the investigation was still ongoing at Bhandup Hospital.
