Tamil Nadu: HC seeks CCTV footage from mortuaries of three Govt Hospitals

Madurai: The state government has been directed by the Madras High Court to produce the CCTV footage of cameras installed inside mortuaries of three government hospitals to ascertain the compilation of the directions passed earlier in 2020.

The court earlier in 2020 ordered the government to install CCTV cameras in the mortuaries of three government hospitals. To ensure compliance with the order, the court requested the footage of three hospitals including Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai district, Sivaganga Medical College Hospital and Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital.

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The government has been ordered to produce CCTV footage from the last three days by a division bench of Justices S S Sundar and S Srimathy.

The decision came across while the court was hearing the petition filed by the state government seeking modification of the order passed by the court in 2020.

In 2020, the court while taking into consideration several lapses and irregularities while performing postmortems, has passed directions including appointing scientific officers at the medical college hospitals in all the districts.

Specifically, the petition sought to modify the order regarding the appointment of scientific officers at medical college hospitals in all districts. In response to the plea, the court directed that the qualification, duties and responsibilities of the scientific officers should be defined by the government.

TOI reports that the court had said in 2020 that the State could enlist the help of a committee made up of specialists in forensic science, criminology, medical examination, and other subjects.

Nevertheless, the State claimed in its petition for the change that the expert committee had concluded that the employment of scientific officers was not necessary for government medical college hospitals.

The National Medical Council's staff criteria did not include the position of scientific officers. In Tamil Nadu, there was a mobile forensic unit in every district. The State claimed that they provided the investigating police with reports.

Since scientific officers have no knowledge of anatomy, the need to have one was unnecessary said the state.

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