Telangana high court dismisses PIL on Aadhaar denial claim in snakebite death

Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Thursday dismissed a PIL alleging that a young SC (Budagajangam) woman was denied ‘108' ambulance and medical treatment for not possessing an Aadhaar card, holding that official records showed she received repeated emergency care after a snakebite before dying during transfer to Gandhi hospital.Calling the incident ‘tragic', a bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin said that after examining official records and the state's counter-affidavit, it was satisfied that medical services were not denied for lack of Aadhaar and that she was attended to immediately through the 108 ambulance service. During the hearing, state counsels told the court that ambulance services were never refused to the woman due to absence of Aadhaar and that the same policy was followed across the state in providing ambulance and medicare services. They also placed before the court a timeline of events from the moment the woman suffered the snakebite, contacted 108, and was shifted first to a nearby community health centre, then to a district hospital, and later referred to Gandhi hospital for advanced treatment. Emergency treatment"While shifting her to Gandhi hospital, she succumbed," state counsel informed the court. The counsel further submitted that the ambulance reached her residence within 12 minutes of the distress call and emergency treatment was administered by the onboard team while shifting her to the community health centre. Further treatment was also provided at the health centre and district hospital without asking for her Aadhaar card, he added.