A day after the Gujarat High Court (HC) passed a strong order against the State government over poor medical facilities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “if they are aware of what is happening in their home State or has Gujarat become COVID-19 immune”.

On Saturday, the High Court came down heavily on the State government for the high mortality rate in the government-run Civil Hospital of Ahmedabad and noted that it contributed 62% to the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the city. The High Court also slammed the Health Minister and government officials for lack of ventilators and other essential equipment.

‘Worse than dungeon’

“As we said earlier that the Civil Hospital is meant to treat patients. However, it appears that as on date, it is as good as dungeon. Maybe worse than a dungeon. Unfortunately, the poor and helpless patients have no option,” a Bench of Justices B. Pardiwala and Ilesh Vora had observed.

Addressing an online press conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said “rarely has the judiciary used such harsh terms as the Gujarat High Court did against the State government”.

“We would respectfully ask the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the Government of India, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and the Government of Gujarat: Are they even aware of what is happening in their own home State?” Mr. Singhvi said.

“If so, have they ever intervened, chastised or punished the Gujarat government or does the latter have COVID immunity vaccine because they belong to the BJP?” he added.

The Congress leader, who is a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, also asked why the Gujarat Governor had not sent similar letters like his counterpart from Bengal sent that prompted the Home Ministry to issue advisories to the Bengal government.

“Why has the Gujarat Governor not adopted the same intrusive standards for the Gujarat government as his West Bengal counterpart did,” Mr. Singhvi asked.

The Congress spokesperson said if “controllers” of the Central government are ‘unable to provide medical justice to the poor of their home area, what COVID justice can the rest of India’s teeming millions expect from them?

“The observations of the Hon’ble Gujarat High Court on the conduct of the State government & present situation in public hospitals are extremely worrisome. It should serve as an eye opener for the government,” senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said in a tweet.