Lucknow, May 5 (IANS): The Allahabad High Court sought response from the state health authorities on the treatment given to Justice Virendra Kumar Srivastava, a sitting Judge of the High Court, who succumbed to Covid virus last week.

A division bench, comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Ajit Kumar directed the additional advocate general Manish Goyal to file an affidavit, bringing on record the treatment given to late Justice Srivastava, at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow, where he was initially admitted.

The direction was given after the bench was informed that various private hospitals and even in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the patients who were being admitted were not taken good care of.

It was further told that even Justice Srivastava was not given proper treatment initially and it was only when his condition deteriorated, he was placed on ventilator. The same night, he was shifted to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, where he was in ICU for five days and ultimately succumbed to the Covid infection.

"The additional advocate general is directed to file an affidavit bringing on record the treatment given to late Justice V.K. Srivastava at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and it will also be explained why he was not taken immediately to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, immediately in the morning on 23rd April itself," the court said.

The bench has also taken note of misleading information shown on the online portal created by the Government for information on vacant beds.

It noted that even though there are no beds in the L-2 and L-3 hospitals, the portal shows vacancies and is not updated.

"This state of affairs that we have come to know about the management of online portal created by the Government today casts shadow upon the Covid hospital management.