Judgment · High Court · 2012

The State respondents in their affidavit affirmed by the Superintendent of Centr al Jail, Guwahati while admitting that the deceased had been granted bail on 13. 10.2011 and that inspite thereof his family did not care to secure a suitable ba iler for his release, also avowed that he (deceased) on being examined by the Ja il Doctor was not found to be suffering from any serious illness at the time of his induction in jail on 15.08.2011. According to them, on 13.10.2011 the deceas ed visited the OPD of the Jail Hospital with complaint of mild cough, fever and running nose and on being examined by the Jail Doctor his blood pressure was fou nd to be normal. He was also prescribed medicine. The respondents have stated th at the petitioner’s husband while playing cards in Ward No. 4 with his co-inmate s suddenly became semi conscious at about 2.00 p.m. on 17.10.2011, whereupon, th e Jail Doctor immediately attended on him and found his pulse rate to be 78 per minute and blood pressure 90/70 mlg (below normal). The respondents have averred that the Jail Doctor, thereafter, administered him necessary treatment and refe rred him to GMCH. The attending Doctor of the Guwahati Medical College and Hospi tal, however, declared him to have been brought dead at about 3.05 p.m. signifyi ng that he (deceased) had expired on his way from the Central Jail, Guwahati to the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, Guwahati. It was, thereafter, that th e family members of the deceased were informed of his death through the Officer- in-Charge, Bharalumukh Police Station and the Officer-in-Charge, Fatasil Ambari Police Station. While stoutly denying any negligence on the part of the jail aut horities in providing necessary medical attention to the deceased husband of the petitioner, the respondents insisted that all necessary steps in that regard we re taken with utmost expedition and that viewing the urgency necessary formaliti es like police escort was also not insisted upon to shift him to the Guwahati Me dical College and Hospital. Ms. Deuri has emphatically argued with reference to the post mortem report that the findings therein vis-a-vis the state of the heart of the deceased clearly su ggested that he had sustained injuries presumably in a fight with the other inma tes in course of the game of cards and that his death is not natural as conclude d. Contending that the petitioner’s husband was throughout hale and hearty and t hat his sudden demise cannot be ruled out as unnatural, the learned counsel has argued that deliberate inaction and negligence on the part of the jail authoriti es being writ large, an inquiry, as prayed for, ought to be ordered. She further added that death normally cannot occur due to one, syncope (bout of unconscious ). Mr. Deka, in reply, has insisted that a plain reading of the post mortem report would reveal without any manner of doubt that the petitioner’s husband had expir ed due to sudden cardiac arrest and that the same having been certified to be na tural, the incident unfortunate, though, does not warrant any inquiry as sought for. As, necessary medical treatment available in the Jail was provided to the p etitioner’s husband as emergently as possible and that he was shifted to the Guw ahati Medical College and Hospital without wasting any time, the allegation of d eliberate negligence is without any basis. Upon hearing the learned counsel for the parties and on a consideration of the m aterials on record, we are constrained to sustain the plea raised on behalf of t he respondents. The averments made in the writ petition, even if accepted on the ir face value, sans, the refutation made by the respondents, the same, in our vi ew, do not, in the face of the post mortem report, render the death of the petit ioner’s husband suspicious far less homicidal. The eventual conclusion of the Do ctor, Putul Mahanta, Assistant Professor of Forensic Medicine, GMCH, who had per formed the post mortem examination is as hereunder: - (cid:28)Death was due to syncope as a result of chronic coronary insufficiency (Natural Death). (cid:29) Though, qua the heart of the deceased it had been observed as follows: - (cid:28)Heart full enlarged, weight 450 gms, Multiple petechial hemorrhage pres ent at places over myocardium. Coronaries are thick and cord like consistency, M ilky white patches of size (2.5 x 1) lies over left ventricular wall. (cid:29) In the teeth of the ultimate conclusion, it cannot be inferred that death had oc curred out of any injury sustained by the deceased. The imputation of negligence on the part of the jail authorities in view of the prompt steps taken by them a nd the treatment administered to the petitioner’s husband by the Jail Doctor als o does not commend for acceptance. The expedition with which the decision was ta ken to shift him to the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital and the steps take n to effect the same, even without waiting for the normal formalities to be adhe red to vis-a-vis an under trial prisoner, according to us, further reinforces th is conclusion. On an overall consideration of all above, in the exercise of the writ jurisdicti on of this Court, in absence of overwhelming materials even to suggest that the petitioner’s husband had either met a homicidal death or had expired due to deli berate negligence on the part of the jail authorities, we have no other alternat ive but to negate the relief sought for. The petition, in the attending facts an d circumstances, is dismissed. No costs.