Mumbai, April 8: Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday targeted the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led MahaYuti government over the death of a pregnant woman, Tanisha Bhise, in Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital at Pune for alleged denial of treatment after demanding a deposit of Rs 10 lakh.

Aaditya has asked why the government is protecting trust and the hospital and not initiating action despite the inquiry committee citing non-compliance with the stipulated norms.

“Everybody is looking at whether Chief Minister Fadnavis will act against the trust and the agency running the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune that demanded 10 lakh rupees from the woman for delivery. Her inability to pay this ransom led to her demise,” said Aaditya in his post on ‘X’, a day after the consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Sushrut Ghaisas resigned.

He said that the internal committee denied the charge (of demanding a deposit of Rs 10 lakh by DR Ghaisas), while on Monday, a doctor admitted and resigned from the administration.

“How can Punekars trust such a hospital that speaks two different things to save itself and not the patient? If the hospital was demanding ransom money, what about the hospital’s tax and municipal dues? It’s in crores! Will the agencies go knocking on the doors of the trustees and agencies running this hospital?” he questioned.

Aaditya further asked, “Who is running this hospital and why is it so influential that the Chief Minister has to defend it?”

Dr Ghaisas, who, after a check-up of Tanisha Bhise on a case paper demanded a deposit of Rs 10 lakh, resigned on Monday, citing intense public anger, social media backlash, and threat calls as reasons.

Tanisha Bhise later died at another facility after giving birth to twin daughters.

Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, medical director of the hospital, told reporters: “In his resignation letter, Dr Ghaisas stated that he is under tremendous mental pressure due to public outrage, criticism and threats. He fears this will impact his ability to treat other patients and may also compromise the safety of his family. To avoid injustice to his work, he has decided to resign.”

He said that the hospital administration has forwarded the resignation to its trustees, and it is expected that it will be accepted, adding that Dr Ghaisas will complete his scheduled surgeries and work until Thursday.

Incidentally, the preliminary report prepared by the five-member inquiry committee chaired by Deputy Director Pune Circle Dr Radhakishan Pawar has blamed the hospital for the violation of provisions from the Hospitals Act by not giving primary treatment and later referring the case for further treatment.

The committee was established by the Public Health Department amid protests against the hospital.

According to the committee, the hospital has also violated the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, which clearly mentions that in an emergency, the Charitable Hospitals must attend to the patient immediately and provide essential medical facilities for all life-saving emergency treatment and procedure, and toll stabilisation.

New Delhi, April 8: The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed a plea filed by the Jharkhand government challenging the Jharkhand High Court order barring power cuts during Ram Navami and other festivals.

A bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar decided to close the proceedings after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Jharkhand government, submitted that the state discom kept power cuts restricted only to procession routes in terms of the previous order of the apex court.

Sibal said that an affidavit of the Managing Director of the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) regarding compliance with the directives issued by the top court will be placed on record.

On Friday, the CJI Khanna-led Bench stressed that power cuts should be kept to a minimum duration during festivals and ordered restricting power cuts be limited to procession routes during Ram Navami this year. It modified the Jharkhand High Court order barring power cuts during Ram Navami and other festivals, clarifying that essential services, including hospitals, must not be affected by the power cuts.

In its special leave petition filed before the Supreme Court, the Jharkhand government had argued that temporary power cuts were a necessary safety measure as long flags carried during processions posed a risk of electric shocks.

The JBVNL has been routinely suspending power supply for several hours on festival days to prevent accidents.

The issue gained attention after a five-to-ten-hour power outage in Ranchi during the Sarhul festival on April 1. Taking suo motu cognisance, a bench of Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Deepak Roshan of Jharkhand High Court on April 3 stayed the state government’s practice, questioning the lack of alternative safety measures and the hardships caused to residents. It expressed concern about the effects of the outages on local businesses, which faced forced closures and revenue losses. Such disruptions, the Jharkhand HC said, not only cause inconvenience to the residents but also pose safety risks.

The Chief Justice Rao-led Bench had ordered the JBVNL not to undertake long power cuts unless absolutely necessary.

Aggrieved with the directives, the Jharkhand government petitioned the Supreme Court, saying that past electrocution incidents during Ram Navami and other religious processions justified these precautionary power cuts.

New Delhi, April 8: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday and sought her intervention in West Bengal teachers’ crisis, emanating from a Supreme Court verdict, which dealt a big blow to the recruitment of more than 26,000 teachers in the state.

In his two-page letter to President Murmu, Rahul said that treating the teachers selected through fair means on par with tainted ones will be a serious injustice to them and therefore it was important to draw a distinction between the two – one selected via fair means and the tainted, selected through unfair means.

Drawing President’s attention to the crisis arising from 26,000 job losses, he urged the President to take stock of it and take some steps for ‘redressal’.

“I request you to kindly consider their request favourably and urge the government to intervene in the matter to ensure that candidates selected through fair means are allowed to continue,” Cong MP wrote in the letter.

He further wrote, “Most untainted teachers have served for nearly a decade. Terminating them will force lakhs of students into classrooms without adequate teachers. Ther arbitrary termination will destroy their morale and deprive their families of what is often the sole source of income.”

Notably, the Supreme Court, on April 3, upheld an earlier verdict of the Calcutta High Court, leading to invalidation of 25,752 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff. These appointments were made by a recruitment panel set up by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016.

The court observed that the entire selection process of TMC government was “vitiated and tainted beyond resolution”.

The SC verdict came as a blow to the ruling party and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee particularly in light of the fact that it comes ahead of party’s poll preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections.