Allahabad HC stays govt order suspending licence of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Amethi
Lucknow/Amethi (PTI): The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed the Uttar Pradesh government's order suspending the licence of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Amethi over the death of a 22-year-old woman after a surgery.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manish Kumar said that inquiry against the hospital would go on, and asked the state government to file its counter affidavit.
The court passed the order on a writ petition filed by the hospital's chief operating officer Avadhesh Sharma against the government's order.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior counsel J N Mathur argued that the suspension order was not sustainable as it was passed "due to political reasons".
The state government contended that the hospital had no licence to conduct surgeries but it was doing so and hence the incident, in which a woman died after a minor surgery, took place.
"The licence has rightly been suspended and the inquiry is going on before passing the final order," state counsel Rahul Shukla said.
On September 18, the health department suspended the licence of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Munshiganj area of Amethi and halted OPD and emergency services, days after the death of a woman patient following an operation.
The hospital is run by Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
Manoj Muttu, administrator of the trust, told PTI that a copy of the court's order will be submitted to the chief medical officer of Amethi and as per the CMO's directions functioning of the hospital will resume.
However, Muttu said he would like the hospital to resume functioning from Thursday.
Earlier in the day, BJP's Amethi district unit demanded that the management of the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust be handed over to Maneka Gandhi and her son Varun Gandhi, BJP MPs from Sultanpur and Pilibhit, respectively .
In a memorandum addressed to the UP governor, the BJP has also demanded that free treatment be provided at the hospital.
"The Sanjay Gandhi Hospital is constructed on the land given on lease by the state government. The conditions of the lease were not adhered to and the hospital continued to be run in a disorganized manner. Hence, the government should hand over the management of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust to BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, widow of Sanjay Gandhi, and her son and BJP MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi," the memorandum said.
"Else, the government should take over the hospital and hand over its management to Lucknow-based Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI)," it added.
The memorandum was handed over to the district magistrate of Amethi by BJP's district unit chief Ram Prasad Mishra.
On September 27, over 400 employees of the hospital sat on a dharna against the suspension of its licence.
A political controversy erupted over the issue after local Congress leaders also staged a protest outside the CMO's office.
Union Minister and MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani, had attacked the Congress over the suspension of hospital's licence, saying instead of supporting the deceased woman's family, the party was "crying over loss of its profits".
The woman patient, Divya, who was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital on September 14, went into a coma during a surgery. Her family members alleged that she was kept at the hospital for more than 30 hours before being referred to Lucknow where she died on September 16.
The next day, an FIR of causing death by negligence was registered against four employees of the hospital, including its chief executive officer.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
