Allahabad: A week after his family went public describing his ordeal and his own letter sent from jail went viral, Dr Kafeel Ahmed Khan, who was charged under bailable offences, has finally been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court.
A single judge bench of the Allahabad High Court while granting him bail said that as the charge sheet had been filed, he did not have to be remanded in custody. Dr. Kafeel Khan, who spent seven months in jail, was arrested after the BRD Medical College Hospital Gorakhpur tragedy in which at least 23 children had died in a short span of time, allegedly due to shortage of oxygen.
Dr Kafeel's bail application had been rejected by the sessions court and he had been unsuccessful in getting a date for the bail hearing at the high court as well, until now.
Dr. Kafeel Khan got bail a week after his wife and brother addressed a press conference in Delhi, explaining in details why they believed that the doctor is innocent and called out the injustice of him not getting bail. They also said that Khan was ill and was not being taken care of well enough at the prison where he was lodged.
During the press conference the family also shared with the media persons a letter written by Dr. Kafeel. A video purpotedly of Dr. Kafeel also went viral on social media in which Dr. Kafeel said his family members were afraid that he might be killed in a "fake encounter".
Also Read | Read Full Text of Dr Kafeel Khan's Letter
In his letter written from jail, Dr. Kafeel - the head of the encephalitis ward and a paediatrician, described in detail how he managed to save many lives and the parents in the hospital. Some of the eyewitnesses also said that had it not been for Khan’s work, the number of deaths could have been higher.
“While other doctors gave up hope, Dr Khan managed the situation well by arranging oxygen cylinders from private nursing homes. He saved many lives by his efforts and presence of mind,” said Gaurav Tripathi, an eyewitness.
However, this did not make Kafeel Khan a hero in the eyes of the administration. Khan was booked for criminal conspiracy, attempt to commit culpable homicide and criminal breach of trust by public servant, among others. The police filed the chargesheet in November 2017.
“The guilty are DM Gorakhpur, DGME (director general of medical education), Principal Secretary Health Education for not taking any action against 14 reminders sent by Pushpa Sales for its Rs 68 lakh dues. It was a total administrative failure at higher level, they did not realise the gravity and just to save themselves, they made us scapegoat and put us behind the bars", Dr. Kafeel claimed in his letter.
He also claimed that his life “turned upside down” when UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited him the following day. “He asked, ‘so you are Dr Kafeel? You arranged cylinders?’ I was…yes sir. He got angry — ‘so you think by arranging cylinders, you became hero, I will see it’,” Khan wrote. “Yogi-ji was angry because…how this incident came into the media.”
He stated that he “did not inform any mediaperson that night”, and that they were “already there” when he reached the hospital. Thereafter, he wrote, his family was “hounded” and “tortured”, forcing him to surrender.
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