The PIL was initiated by the high court after the news report was brought to its attention (File)
The Delhi High Court has sought the response of the government and the Delhi Police on a PIL initiated by it on the basis of a report that a gunshot victim was denied treatment by a private hospital fearing harassment from cops.
A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Chander Shekhar asked the Centre and the police to file their replies and status reports before the next date of hearing on August 11.
The PIL was initiated by the high court after the news report was brought to its attention by a lawyer who sought directions to hospitals, both private and government-run, not to deny treatment in such cases.
The lawyer, Varun Gosain, has also sought directions from the court to the police for a speedy probe and proper protection to the eye-witnesses, as four of the five accused in the incident are still absconding. According to the report, a 57-year-old dhaba owner and his 26-year-old son were shot dead allegedly by five men after a dispute over a cooler in outer Delhi's Najafgarh area on the night of July 26.
The accused wanted the cooler to be turned towards them but the dhaba owner, Shyam Verma, and his son Mayank did not agree, which led to a fight.
One of the persons in the group of five allegedly pulled out a pistol and shot Mayank in the neck and when his father tried to stop them, he was shot in the head.
While the dhaba owner died on the spot, his son succumbed to injuries later, the report had said.
The report had also quoted one of the relatives of the victims as saying that Mayank would have survived if the first hospital where he was taken would have admitted him.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)