Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday gave the state a “last chance” to provide an update on the possibility of a paralysed woman, lying at a private hospital without bills being cleared, could be shifted to a govt hospital. The single judge flagged multiple adjournments, lack of instruction and delays by the administration since 2025.After the govt pleader sought two more weeks to sort out the matter, Justice Krishna Rao pointed out that four adjournments had been taken.
In April 2025, Justice Amrita Sinha directed the state “to explore a remedy” after Poonam Gupta’s husband, Jai Prakash Gupta, told the court it was not possible for him to take his wife home as she could not either speak properly or move freely. He had claimed he did not have the means to take care of her.Poonam’s lower portion of her body had been paralysed after an accident. When Justice Krishna Rao sought steps taken from the govt pleader, he said he did not have any and that he was led by Advocate General Kishore Datta. Justice Rao said, “Your administration is not in a position to take decisions on how a patient needs to be accommodated in a govt hospital? Is this the way the state of Bengal is working? Every day, yes, matter is under consideration. If your authority does not have this much consideration, then why are you running the state? The total system has collapsed.“
