The Gujarat High Court on Monday asked a lawyer to remain concerned about the problem of swine flu in India and how it can be brought under control rather than what is happening in Singapore.
During the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL), an advocate appearing on behalf of a civic body tried to submit that Singapore has also registered a large number of swine flu cases. This irked the division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav. The bench remarked: "We are not concerned about what is happening in Singapore. It is a developed country and can take care of its problems. We are concerned about what is happening in India and how the spread of swine flu can be contained".
Need info on measures within 24-hours
The High Court has directed the state government to provide information on what all measures and infrastructure the state government has put in place to contain the menace of swine flu in the major cities across Gujarat. The court clarified that it is not going to provide any time to the state and it will have to file its reply within 24 hours. The court also directed that counsels of municipal corporations are supposed to remain present during the hearing scheduled on Tuesday, irrespective of the fact that they are a party in the case or not.
Acute shortage of infrastructure
Counsel for the petitioner KR Koshti contended before the court that there is an acute shortage of doctors, para-medical staff and allied health infrastructure in government health institutions. He contended that only nine districts have the required laboratory facility in government health institutions to detect swine flu cases. Meanwhile, the court asked Koshti to come up with cases where any person has died due to the lack of healthcare facility in any government hospital.
