New Delhi: A COVID-19 infected lawyer has moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention in a matter where the court has taken suo moto cognizance over the management of the COVID-19 situation. The lawyer claimed that his grandfather passed away while waiting for a bed outside the gate of the Safdarjung Hospital for the entire night.

The lawyer alleged that due to the condemnable inactions of the hospitals and the state authorities, he lost his 86-year-old grandfather recently. The lawyer claimed the family suffered due to lack of any first- aid and the subsequent refusal of admission to any of the hospitals.

"This is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of the applicant and his entire family, including his 86 years old grandfather who lost his life fighting the virus while he was negligently stranded outside a government hospital and mishandled by the authorities," said the lawyer in the application.

"The hospitals not only failed in giving the applicant's grandfather a bed, but also failed in giving him first-aid. No oxygen cylinder was provided to him, and he was lying unattended outside the building of Safdarjung Hospital with high fever. The appalling condition of the hospitals can be seen from the fact that he or any other patient was not even provided with a paracetamol capsule, let alone a ventilator," said the plea.

The lawyer claimed that the government hospitals, without citing any reasons, were denying tests to even asymptomatic patients, and it was completely impossible to get tested at a reputed private lab, due to delayed appointment process and technical online procedures.

"The applicant's 86-year-old grandfather was mishandled when he went to the RML Hospital to get tested. There was no infrastructure to accommodate the patients. The patients with high fever were not even given a paracetamol capsule to control the fever. The patients were asked to buy medicines from private chemist shops," read the plea.

"Loss of the applicant's grandfather's life due to the gross negligence of the hospital and state authorities unequivocally depicts how the state has failed in helping the retired senior citizen who served this country," it added (IANS)