HC restrains hospital from discharging student

CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Friday restrained the Government General Hospital authorities here from discharging the fourth year law student Bharathi Kannan, who suffered grievous injuries in the November 12 law college campus clash.
Justice K Suguna granted the interim relief until Tuesday, on a petition filed by the student's father K Karuppiah of Ooranikottai in Ramanathapuram district.She also directed the Esplanade police and the dean of the government hospital to file their counters by Tuesday.
When the government advocate sought to know from the court as to what should the doctors do if they opined that the student was fit, the judge said there was nothing wrong if they kept the student in the hospital until Tuesday.
In his petition, Karuppiah contended that Bharathi Kannan was physically and mentally disturbed by police who visited him in the hospital frequently on the pretext of inquiry. Claiming that police put pressure on the hospital authorities to give medical opinion stating that he was physically fit for discharge, the petitioner said his son was still under severe mental shock. He still had bouts of nightmares and remained calm only under sedative influence, Karuppiah said, adding that police were determined to get him discharged from the hospital so that they could take him into custody in connection with the November 12 violence.
Voicing his apprehension that the right leg of Bharathi Kannan may have to be amputated, his father said he required the constant care of super-specialty doctors. Prison hospitals had no specialists and were ill-equipped to address critical situations, he said. Holding the state and the police responsible for Bhara-thi Kannan's present condition, Karuppiah wanted the court to direct the hospital authorities not to discharge his son under political and police pressure.