HP Government says no administrative lapse in death of boy

Shimla, Sep 7 (UNI) Denying any administrative lapse in the death of a four-year-old boy whose vehicle got stuck in traffic following parallel rallies by the Congress and the BJP here recently, the state government today said he was not in an ambulance but a private car.

The police personnel on duty extended all possible help to the family members and made efforts to ensure that the vehicle was allowed to pass, it said in a reply to the court against the notices, which had sought replies from the state government, Congress and the BJP.

Agreeing that the death of the boy was regretable, they denied that the vehicle got stuck in their respective rallies.

The state government said the child was being ferried in a private car and not in an ambulance, as mentioned in newspapers, adding that the vehicle got stuck in the BJP's rally.

On the other hand, the BJP maintained, in its reply, that the vehicle got stranded in the Congress' rally and their was a delay in his reaching the hospital, resulting in the boy's death.

Hearing the Public Interest Litigation filed by Virender Thakur, the division bench of Chief Justice V K Gupta and Justice Rajeev Sharma, directed the petitioner to file a rejoinder in the matter.

The petitioner had filed the PIL on the basis of newspaper reports which had highlighted the death of four year child, Dinesh, who died on his way to the IGMC hospital Shimla as the vehicle in which he was been carried got stuck during the rallies organised by the Congress and the BJP.

The petitioner in his petition had submitted that there should be some guidelines that should ensure that traffic on the roads was not affected due to the political rallies.

It was also submitted that the political parties who organise such rallies were made responsible for the smooth flow of traffic.

UNI