Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 28: Division Bench of High Court comprising Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur today granted last opportunity to the State Government to file its response/status report in PIL seeking establishment of an eye-bank.
When the PIL came-up for hearing, Senior AAG Gagan Basotra vice Deputy AG Neeru Goswami sought some more time to file status report. Upon this, Division Bench granted last opportunity to file status report within four weeks.
In the Public Interest Litigation, it has been submitted that the only eye-bank operating in the State was closed by the respondents in the year 1994 and presently no eye-bank or eye-donation center is functioning in the State. It has further been alleged that huge blind population has no medical avenue in the state for which they have to go outside the state at huge expenses and times.
“The right to public health and medical care has been held to be one of the facets of the Article of the Constitution of India”, the PIL said, adding “mockery of the scenario of the State is glaringly manifested as first eye-bank in world was established in the year 1944 and in India it was established in the year 1944 at Madras. Around 34589 eyes were collected and 13887 eyes transplants were performed successfully in India in the year 2008 with no activity in the State for the past 18 years”.
The PIL further said that the respondents have ample funds at their disposal to establish and operate at least one eye-bank in each capital of the State.
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