75-year-old moves Delhi HC for Covid bed, dies hours after petition accepted

NEW DELHI: Moti Ram Goyal, a resident of Nand Nagri, had moved Delhi high court seeking that Delhi government be directed to provide him a bed in a government hospital as he was suffering from Covid-19. But in a tragic turn of events, Goyal died on May 3, hours after his petition was accepted for hearing the next day.



The 75-year-old had contracted the virus from a nursing home where he had been admitted for check-up by his son. His family members alleged that when he started showing symptoms of the viral infection, they tried to admit him in four hospitals, but they refused saying no beds were available. He died in the private hospital where he had been admitted.

Goyal’s son, Anil, told TOI that his father had been suffering from chronic blood pressure. On May 25, he fainted and was taken to a private clinic in Shahdara. The doctor there referred him to a nursing home near Anand Vihar.

“Though he was treated by the doctors there, the hospital authorities realised that he was in a ward where they had admitted Covid patients. He was immediately shifted to another ward, but the damage had been done by then,” said Anil.

Within two days, Goyal developed symptoms of coronavirus and started getting high fever. “Initially, we couldn’t shift him due to the high fever. Later, the hospital authorities started pressuring us to shift him to a government hospital since they didn’t have ventilators,” Anil said.

When TOI tried to contact the hospital on the number available online, the calls were answered by an automated system and then disconnected.

The family runs a cycle repair shop in Nand Nagri in northeast Delhi. “I went to GTB, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjeevani and Max Patparganj hospitals, but was told that all the beds under the BPL quota were full. I didn’t have money to pay for the private beds,” said Anil.

The family members said Goyal lost precious time as the private hospital didn’t have adequate life support facilities. “I virtually pleaded with all government hospitals to get my father admitted. We then approached the high court with a plea,” Anil said.

The petition stated how Goyal had contracted the disease owing to the alleged negligence of the private nursing home. He then couldn’t get a bed in a government hospital. His condition had deteriorated by then. The petition was received on June 2 around 9am and Goyal died around 11am the next day. The matter was listed for hearing on Friday, but the case was declared infructuous as the petitioner had died.