Blood bank case: Cops didn’t inform us before filing cancellation report, says complainant

Aparna Banerji

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Jalandhar, July 10

On August 4, 2018, teams of the Drug Department found some grave irregularities in blood units stored and issued from the blood bank at the local Gulab Devi Hospital. Eight persons were booked and the Zonal Licensing Authority (ZLA), Jalandhar, suspended all operations of the blood bank.

Will act as per court order: cops

• Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, Gursharan Singh Sandhu said: “We will act as per the directions of the High Court. While I am not aware of the case details, due legal process will be followed.”
• Meanwhile, Division No. 2 SHO Gurpreet Singh said: “The NGO will be consulted during the course of the investigation. We will also carry out a diligent probe as per the directions of the High Court.”

Negligence to the fore

• On August 4, 2018, inspecting teams found blood numbered under one unit being issued to two or more persons and that too without vital details at the blood bank in Gulab Devi Hospital
• An FIR was lodged and five persons were arrested. Presently, they are all out on bail. Blood bank proprietor IG Aggarwal was also later named in the FIR. He too is out on bail

Four years down the line, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 7 expressed its displeasure at the way the police had handled the case, pointing out “the police authorities are persisting in filing a cancellation report to give a clean chit to the accused”. Activists, members of the civil society and the complainant non-government organisation (NGO) in the case have expressed displeasure at the investigation.

How was the report made?

In January, a reinvestigation was ordered by the court. But we — the complainant NGO — were never involved by the police during the course of the investigation. Can the police prepare a cancellation report without consulting the complainant? —Vitin Puri, general secretary, NGO

The court, in its ruling, had observed that, following registration of an FIR, a cancellation report was filed by the police in the same case on July 4, 2020, in the court of Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Jalandhar, who refused to accept the same and returned the cancellation report to the Station House Officer of Division Numer 2, (via orders on September 7, 2021). The court further noted, even after this, the police authorities again proposed to send a cancellation report affirming their previous stance. While the court has ordered the Joint Commissioner, Department of Food and Drugs Administration, Punjab, and the Director General of Police to submit their reports on the issue in the next hearing; the case has become a matter of study on repeated inaction even in cases of grave medical negligence.

Vitin Puri, general secretary, NGO Hindustan Welfare Blood Donors Club, which is the main complainant in the case, said: “It has been four years since the case first surfaced. In January this year, a reinvestigation was ordered by the court. But we — the complainant NGO — were never sought by the police during the course of the investigation, even though we are the complainant. Can the police issue a cancellation report without consulting the complainant? Due to the lack of action, the same people continue operating blood banks elsewhere.”