Allahabad HC stays UP govt's 2019 suspension order of Gorakhpur's Dr Kafeel Khan

In a major relief to Gorakhpur's Dr. Kafeel Khan, the Allahabad High Court stayed the UP government’s suspension order for allegedly misbehaving with staff at Bahraich District Hospital in 2019. This was the second time Khan was suspended with the first being for the oxygen tragedy in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College. Taking to Twitter, Khan hoped that his original suspension for the oxygen tragedy will also end, allowing him to treat children again.

Allahabad HC stays Dr Khan's second suspension

Earlier in August, the Allahabad HC had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to justify the prolonged suspension of Khan, while hearing a plea by the doctor challenging the order of suspension dated August 22, 2017. The court held that the delay in taking further action on the part of the disciplinary authority has not been explained. In response, the UP govt said it will conclude the disciplinary inquiry against Dr.Kafeel Khan within a period of three months. 

Who is Dr. Kafeel Khan?

Dr. Kafeel Khan had earlier grabbed headlines after 60 children died in the BRD hospital in September 2017 allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply over unpaid bills to the vendor. He was suspended and was jailed before being granted bail in April 2018 by Allahabad High Court, with the Court specifying that there was no evidence of negligence on his part. Last September, Dr Kafeel Khan was given a clean chit in the 2017 BRD hospital tragedy. He had then claimed that he was a victim and being punished for a crime that he never committed.

Later, Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29, 2020, for allegedly giving a provocative speech at the open talk in the Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019. After being transferred to Mathura Jail from Aligarh, he was detained inspite of being granted bail, as NSA charges were slapped against him. Subsequently, the Allahabad HC ruled that Khan's speech not only gives a call for national unity but also does not show any effort to promote hatred or violence, rejecting grounds for detention under NSA.

"We are having no hesitation in concluding that neither detention of Dr. KafeelKhan under National Security Act, 1980 nor extension of the detention are sustainable in the eye of law," the division bench consisting of Justices Govind Mathur and Saumitra Dayal Singh said. With Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra assuring the Gorakhpur pediatrician a safe haven in Rajasthan, Khan and his family have now shifted to Rajasthan, fearing repercussions from the Yogi government - who had slapped the stringent NSA against him. While the UP govt challenged the HC verdict in the Supreme Court, it was dismissed by the apex court.