Kochi: The Kerala government on Thursday informed the High Court that it was actively considering the proposal to deploy the State Industrial Security Force (SISF) in government hospitals. The government said the health department has been asked to submit a list of hospitals which require the SISF services on priority and without any charge.
Senior Government Pleader S Kannan made the submissions even as he informed the high court that a draft of the protocol for producing persons in custody in hospitals had been prepared by the police department. The draft document has been submitted to the government as per the court's direction, the senior counsel said.
The government told the court that it was of the view that the private hospitals could make their own arrangements without relying upon the SISF. To this, the court directed the government to actively consider providing of security cover to all hospitals, government or private, through SISF.
The high court directed the government to hear the representatives of the Kerala Judicial Officers Association, the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), the IMA - Kerala Chapter, Kerala Private Hospital Association, the Kerala Govt Medical Officers Association (KGMOA), and the Kerala Govt Medical College Teacher Association (KGMCT), while finalizing protocols for production of persons from the custody of the police, Live Law reported.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Kauser Edappagath was considering the case relating to the murder of Dr Vandana Das, a 23-year-old house surgeon, by an injured man brought to the Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital by the police.
Though the government informed that it would require at least a month for the consultaions, the court said, "the response of the government shall be made available to us as far as possible, by the next posting date".
The senior government pleader placed before the court a memo which produced the Ordinance to amend the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2012. The Ordinance was notified on Wednesday.
