Mumbai : The Bombay High Court today directed the Western Railway to bear the medical expenses of a one-month-old child who was found abandoned in a train at Virar railway station two days ago.
The direction was given by a bench of Justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, which was hearing a public interest litigation filed by an activist, Samir Zaveri.
Zaveri, who himself lost his legs in a railway accident, had prayed in the petition to direct the authorities to set up medical centres at suburban stations.
Today, when the matter was being heard, he raised the issue of a baby boy being abandoned in a train. He said the news had appeared in a leading tabloid along with a photograph of the baby. The report also said that a private hospital had refused to admit the boy fearing that the Railways would not foot the medical bill.
The bench thereupon directed the Railway authorities to bear the expenses of treatment of the abandoned child.
The judges were of the view that the Railways should bear the medical expenses not only of the injured victims but also of the children found abandoned in the premises.
Hearing Zaveri’s petition earlier, the Railways had set up emergency medical centres at 15 suburban stations.
The Maharashtra government had also stationed ambulances at 46 stations to handle accident cases and ferry victims to the nearest hospital.
The court had also directed the government to ensure that the doctors who sit in the ambulance outside the station are trained to handle emergency situations and the equipment in the ambulance. PTI
