NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday warned two Ghaziabad private hospitals and a doctor that if they failed to voluntarily pay compensation to parents of a grievously injured sexually assaulted girl, who died due to refusal of treatment, it will impose costs that would have a chilling impact.When a doctor, accused of refusing admission to the child taken to a private hospital in the NCR city, pleaded that he was only a BAMS doctor and had no wherewithal to treat such a patient, a bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said no doctor worth his salt would refuse treatment to a minor seriously injured because of brutal sexual assault.“What kind of doctor are you? If you cannot give medical assistance to a grievously injured child, do not prefix ‘Dr’ before your name. If you had any sensitivity, you would have facilitated her father,” the bench said.The bench said, “Though the recommendation of the SIT is to impose penalty on the hospitals, we had asked you to donate. If we impose a penalty, it will have a chilling effect.”On June 16, the SC asked Khajan Singh Manvi Health Care and St Joseph Hospital whether they would voluntarily compensate her parents or await court determination of the quantum. The SC-constituted SIT found credence in the father’s charge that the private hospitals had refused to provide immediate treatment. The SC bench said, “The petition… highlights the alleged approach of two private hospitals and the officers of the local police station (Nandgram), which is completely indifferent, inhuman, and insensitive.“
