Health Issues India

The deaths of more than 100 children due to an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Bihar has come under the scanner of the Supreme Court. The tragedy has sparked national outrage and arrested international headlines. As the death toll passed 150 over the weekend, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the Muzaffarpur district (where most of the deaths have occurred) ordered that Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Bihar’s state health minister Mangal Pandey be investigated for negligence. The CJM was responding to a petition by activist Tamanna Hashmi filed on June 17th. Accusing the ministers of negligence, Hashmi sought their investigation under Sections 308, 323 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code, with Section 308, in particular, pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Hashmi alleged also that he had received an anonymous threat and filed a complaint with police in Ahiyapur. “The deaths of children are a direct result of negligence and … Read Full Article about Supreme Court intervenes in Bihar child deaths