The Delhi High Court today directed the city government and other authorities having mortuaries under their control to timely supply materials sought by the morgues for carrying out post-mortem and preserving bodies.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued the direction after amicus curiae Saqib told the court that some of the mortuaries he visited were still using outdated and rusted implements to carry out autopsies and did not have basic materials like salt for preserving viscera samples.
The court also directed the authorities to comply with the guidelines for dealing with bodies, in letter and spirit and listed the matter for further hearing on February 17, 2016.
It noted that basic materials, like salt or PVC sheets for covering bodies, were not being supplied to the mortuary attached with Guru Teg Bahadur hospital at Dilshad Garden, while the morgue attached with Aruna Asaf Ali hospital did not have "up to the mark" equipment and was still using "old and archaic implements" for carrying out autopsies.
The court directed Saqib to visit all the mortuaries in the city under the control of various authorities and see if its orders were being complied with and whether remedial actions have been taken.
The court directed Delhi Police to file an affidavit containing data regarding unclaimed bodies found and action taken in respect thereof between January 1 to December 31, 2015.
Police showed the court data it had gathered till October and as per which of over 8000 bodies were picked up from various districts, and 2500 of them were unidentified.
Of the over 8000 bodies around 5400 were sent for autopsies. Of these around 3400 were kept for 72 hours in morgues while 1176 were kept for more than 72 hours, police said.
The court was dealing with a PIL initiated by it after a
murder accused died in custody and one of his eyes was found missing when his body was kept in the mortuary.
During the hearing, Delhi government lawyer Rahul Mehra told the court that orders have been placed for cabinets to store bodies.
He said there were some delays in getting equipment, but the major equipment were on the way.
Regarding the accused who had died, Mehra said that compensation of Rs 10 lakh has been released to him as directed by the court.
The court on September 16 had expressed its anguish and anger over the state of affairs in the city mortuaries and had directed the Delhi government to "act fast".
