Kochi, Jan 6 (IANS): The Kerala High Court on Monday came down heavily on the organisers of the dance programme, where Congress legislator Uma Thomas fell off the stage, for not pausing the event after the accident.
The court's statement came while considering the bail petitions of Mridhanga Vision proprietor Nigoshkumar, his wife Mini C. and CEO Shameer Abdul Rahim in connection with the accident of the MLA Uma Thomas.
"What kind of cruelty is this? A person fell and had a head injury. Couldn't you have stopped the program for half an hour? You could have waited till she reached the hospital. What would have happened if you paused the programme until you checked about what happened to her? There is no value to human life……..Whether it is MLA or not; even if a common person had that accident, you should stop that. She fell hitting her head. Even after that, you continued the program with huge celebrations and beat of the chenda," the court observed.
First-time MLA Thomas was seriously injured after falling 15 feet down at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, owned by the CPI-M-controlled Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), during a Guinness World Record attempt for a mass dance performance featuring around 12,500 participants on December 29. She had tripped over a barricade near the VIP pavilion after greeting state Culture Minister Saji Cherian.
Admitted to a private hospital, she was on ventilator support till Saturday.
The medical team attending to her, however, has said she will be closely monitored as her rib injury is healing. She remains in the intensive care unit and the medical team is of the view that she will have to stay there for a few more days.
The accident has sparked a blame game, with authorities launching an investigation into the event’s organisation. Further controversy arose after widespread complaints surfaced about the poor security measures that were taken for this big event. Three people have been arrested and released on bail and the GCDA which came under fire for its callous attitude on Saturday suspended a woman engineer for failing to do her duty.
The court has now asked the organisers to produce the brochure of the event to know on what premise they demanded money from the participants and posted the case for Friday.