High Court steps in after hospital refuses to release soldier\'s body until bill paid

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court had to intervene to help the family of a soldier who died of COVID-19 in securing the release of his body after a private hospital refused to release it until its bill was paid.

Ram Kumar Sharma, an ex-Army man, died of Covid-19 at Sunshine Hospital on August 2. The hospital raised a bill of Rs 8,68,832.30. Though his family paid around Rs 4 lakh, the hospital refused to release the body.

Taking up the family's brief, advocate Pratap Narayan Sanghi filed a writ petition in the High Court by way of a house motion as Monday was a holiday for Raksha Bandhan.

Justice Vinod Kumar directed the station house officer of Ramgopalpet police to immediately take steps to secure the release of Ram Kumar Sharma’s body and hand it over to his son Naveen Kumar Sharma for performing the last rites.

Justice Vinod Kumar also took serious note of corporate hospitals not handing over bodies to their kin if bills are not cleared, and directed the Union and state governments to take stringent steps against such institutions.

Justice Kumar impleaded the central government suo motu and directed it and Telangana's director of medical and health services to examine the bills raised by Sunshine Hospital.

If the bill was found to be excess, the judge ordered serious action against the hospital for exploiting citizens. The court posted the matter for September 11.