Dr Kafeel Khan & a trial by fire
- Arijit Bose
- Oct 10, 2019
- 3 min read
For Kafeel Khan, the trying times don’t seem to end. As news trickled in that he had been absolved of all charges, there was some sense of joy in Kafeel’s family that had been through a harrowing experience, but life took a rather ugly turn when fresh reports said that the state government has pointed at how it would be wrong to presume doctor Kafeel Khan was given a clean chit
An official has been quoted saying that some facts have not been taken into account by the probe committee of Principal Secretary (Stamp and Registration Department) Himanshu Kumar which the government is taking note of.
Kafeel Khan made headlines last week when he claimed he was given a clean chit and absolved of corruption and medical negligence charges by a probe panel.
For Kafeel Khan though getting a cleanchit after being made to go through hell has no meaning given that those years that he lost, the respect that was snatched from him and the aspersions that people cast on him have only weakened him and his family from inside, this even though Kafeel now finally breathes easy with some semblance of justice having been done. Noone knows who was behind the deaths in Gorakhpur’s BRD and why the witchhunt happened in the first place, but the fact that the paraphernalia in BRD needs scrutiny cannot be denied.
Even as stories keep being floated on Kafeel, the government claims that he is not fully scot free and there are questions now on his private practice, for Kafeel Khan the only thing that will change his life scenario will be his reinstating with due honour.
At a personal level, absolved of charges of medical negligence and corruption in the Gorakhpur’s BRD hospital tragedy, Kafeel wants an apology from the Uttar Pradesh government.
Speaking to media persons, Kafeel says the ‘murderer Kafeel’ and infamous doctor Kafeel tag is off his head.
His request though remains that a CBI inquiry should be conducted into the case.
Even as his fight to get his job continues at the government medical college and hospital in Gorakhpur, he has been busy over last two years advocating for better public health. Khan a trained paediatrician from Manipal University as dedicated much of his time to children’s health.
Over the last two years, he has travelled widely across the country holding meetings with many who were keen to talk to him after his release.
When the Chamki Bukhar crisis broke in Bihar in June, where a number of children had again died by encephalitis, Khan travelled there and with a team of local doctors, set up health camps.
The BRD case has long roiled the establishment given deaths due to disruption in oxygen supply on the night of August 10 due to pending payments to the supplier.
Even as Kafeel feels relaxed of a certain honour being restored, the suspension is yet to be revoked.
The deaths of 63 children in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College led to Kafeel Khan being jailed for nine months after a criminal case of medical negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty on the night of 10 August due to pending payments to the supplier, a charge refuted by the state government.
An inquiry panel setup by the UP government has concluded Khan is not guilty of the charges brought against him.
The report establishes that Khan was neither in charge of the ward where the deaths had occurred nor did he have anything to do with the “storage, tendering, payments, orders, supply or arrangements” of liquid oxygen at all.
The investigation found no evidence that Khan held a private medical practice at the time of tragedy.
However the state government in its public communication has not yet acknowledged the report. His suspension is yet to be revoked.
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