Dear Responsible Indians,

We’ve started this petition in regard to the delay in the revocation of Dr. Kafeel Khan’s suspension order and the harassment that he has been putting up with for more than two years now.

On May 10, a division bench of Hon'ble supreme court of India comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Indira Banerjee ordered the enquiry regarding suspension of Dr. Kafeel Khan to be concluded timely (within the timeframe of 90 days) and had further directed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh to pay all subsistence allowances payable to Dr. Kafeel Khan pending his suspension. However, the High Court orders were not upheld by the state government.

Not only is the UP government guilty of contempt of court but is also responsible for keeping Dr Kafeel from performing his social service in Bihar where there is a dire shortage of doctors and medical facilities to operate children suffering from encephalitis.

Not even a single day passes without gross trampling of human rights across India. It's only in brief moments that we get to see caring and kind gestures of few people who choose compassion over indifference and Dr. Kafeel Khan is one such person.

Nobody among us as parents or otherwise would want to end up in a situation like in Gorakhpur and Bihar where people lost their children due to the lack of medical facilities and infrastructure. Instead of improving the medical facilities and providing infrastructure for doctors to perform well, they find it easier to pin the blame on a scapegoat and discharge themselves of accountability.

In such times, people and  professionals lose their motivation to do anything good for the society.

So let's start by putting people like Kafeel Khan where they belong, serving people and saving children.

Please sign this petition as UP needs professionals and accountability more than ever before. Let’s prove to the UP government that it’s not above law.

Regards.

 

Below we are providing a background check of Mr. Kafeel Khan’s lawsuit if in case you’re not aware of his history.

Dr Kafeel Khan was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar-Pradesh. After securing all India 30th Rank in Medical Entrance test he did his MBBS & MD ( Paediatrics ) from KMC, Manipal, Karnataka. Dr. Kafeel Khan has worked as a Assistant Professor in SIIMS, Gangtok (Sikkim). He got permanent commission on 08.08.2016 as a lecturer in BRD medical college. It later emerged that a large number of deaths occurred after the hospital's oxygen supply was cut on 10 August, which Khan was on leave, over non-payment of dues. Khan was hailed as a hero after media outlets reported that he had spent his money to buy oxygen cylinders after the piped supply had been cut, and worked overtime to remedy the situation.

The Uttar Pradesh(UP) government denied that any deaths had occurred due to oxygen shortage. On 13 August 2017, he was removed as the nodal officer in charge of the encephalitis ward on charges of dereliction of duty and carrying out private practice. An FIR was registered against him and others after a written complaint by DG Health, KK Gupta, under IPC sections 409, 308, 120B, 420, Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 8 of the IPC, Section 15 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. On 2 September, Khan was arrested after a court had issued a non-bailable warrant. The resident doctors association of AIIMS condemned his arrest and said he was being made a scapegoat.

While in prison, Khan wrote a 10-page letter, detailing his version of what transpired when the deaths at BRD Hospital occurred due to the oxygen supply being cut. He claimed that he called the head of department, the principal and acting principal of BRD, the district magistrate of Gorakhpur, the chief medical superintendent of Gorakhpur and BRD Medical College, and his other colleagues to inform them of the situation. He said that he also called local oxygen supplier agencies and begged them to immediately arrange for oxygen cylinders at BRD, and called nearby hospitals. He narrated that he went out to buy oxygen cylinders himself. He was able to scrape 250 cylinders together, paying for them himself and promising the suppliers that he would arrange for the rest of the payment soon. He carried some in his car and arranged with the Deputy Inspector Generalof Police for a truck and manpower from the Armed Border Force to deliver the others. He wrote that his family had been harassed by the police. He also wrote that in an encounter with Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath, the latter had expressed anger at him.

While in prison, Khan's wife alleged that he was denied medical care in prison. Two days later the allegation, on 19 April 2018, the police took him for a medical examination, which had been due a week earlier.

In April 2018, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) released a statement in defence of Khan, saying that he had been framed. The secretary of the IMA blamed the state government officials and demanded a high level probe.

Over 200 health professionals and allied activists wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, demanding justice for Khan, his immediate release and the dropping of “false charges” against him.

On 19 April, while responding to an RTI query, the BRD administration admitted that it was facing shortage of oxygen cylinders on the night of 11 August 2018. It said that around six cylinders were bought from other hospitals and the then nodal officer Khan had arranged four oxygen cylinders on his own.

On 25 April, Khan was released on bail after 9 months of imprisonment. The court ruled that there was no evidence of medical negligence on his part. Khan insisted on calling the incident a massacre and blames the UP administration for it.

On 10 June 2018, Khan's brother, Kashif Jameel was shot by unidentified assailants who were on motorbikes. He received three bullet wounds on his right upper arm, neck and chin, but survived the attack. The incident took place in the Humayunpur North area near JP Hospital, 500 metres from the Gorakhnath Temple, where the UP Chief Minister was staying that night. In the aftermath of the incident, Khan said he had apprehended a murder attempt on his family members. He alleged that the police caused a delay of a few hours in his brother receiving urgent medical care. He further accused Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) MP from Bansgaon, Kamlesh Paswanand his three associates of carrying out the attacks.

In July 2018, it was reported that Khan had gone bankrupt. Khan said that people had stopped doing business with his brothers because they were afraid of angering Adityanath. Thus, leaving us wondering whether we are governed by the ministers or the goons.