Woman colonel moves Punjab and Haryana HC alleging ill-treatment at military hospitals

The petitioner is an serviceman of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) subdivision of the Army and is presently attached to the office of the 40 Artillery Division successful Ambala for disciplinary proceedings. She has named the GOC-in-C Western Command arsenic a respondent, successful summation to her commanding serviceman successful 40 Artillery Division, Commandant Military Hospital, Ambala, and Head of Department of Psychiatry, Command Hospital Western Command, Chandimandir.

The colonel has alleged that her aesculapian rights person been violated portion undergoing attraction successful Army hospitals and that she has been subjected to “inhuman and cruel acts” astatine the hands of Army authorities.

“At the outset it is stated that owed to continuous harassment, torture and humiliation astatine the hands of the high-ranking subject officers the Petitioner has go a diligent with intelligence upset and connected aggregate occasions she has attempted termination and is present being treated arsenic ‘high hazard absorption patient’,” the petition states.

The colonel has alleged violations of provisions of the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 and said that the high-ranking Army officials person nary empathy for her suffering, are continuing with their amerciable actions, and are further torturing, harassing and humiliating her.

“The actions of the high-ranking officials person reached to specified an grade that present they are influencing the Army officers and doctors astatine Army Medical Corps to not supply capable attraction to the petitioner and dainty her arsenic a peculiar case,” the pistillate serviceman has said successful her petition.

She has added that the Army authorities are adjacent denying her capable attraction astatine subject hospitals and high-ranking officials are influencing doctors to discharge her without giving her capable treatment. “Further, adjacent during the infirmary hours the petitioner who is simply a woman serviceman is surrounded by a troupe of Army unit including Corps of Military Police (CMP) on with Army officers to intimidate and harass the petitioner,” the petition states.

The petitioner has besides pointed retired that successful a missive dated August 26 to the Commandant, Command Hospital Western Command, she had communicated that decisions regarding her wellness shall necessitate the consent of her hubby and that she is presently nether the attraction of the aforesaid caput of section (HOD) against whom she has lodged a complaint, hence, she is persistently going done victimisation that is severely impacting her intelligence health.

“Despite the representations made by the petitioner and her hubby to the aforementioned and different applicable authorities, nary enactment has been taken. The petitioner has not been permitted to person attraction astatine her chosen hospital, and she is being treated without her consent, successful an amerciable and arbitrary manner. Her hubby is not allowed to sojourn her, and she is subjected to continuous harassment and ill-treatment by the doctors acting nether the instructions of high-ranking officials,” the petition stated.

The pistillate serviceman has stated that aft having noticed the alleged aesculapian negligence and ill-treatment astatine the Army hospital, her hubby took her to PGIMER, Chandigarh connected August 2, wherever the doc diagnosed her astatine “high absorption risk” and advised visiting again connected August 3 on with a referral from the Army infirmary to commencement her treatment.

“It is submitted that the petitioner being nether suspension required a referral missive from the Army infirmary oregon the support of the commanding serviceman to displacement her infirmary and get treated astatine the PGIMER. The petitioner sought for specified referral via missive dated 03.08.2024, however, aft receiving nary reply for the same, the petitioner, accompanied by her husband, physically went to the commanding serviceman connected 05.08.2024, the video for which had been recorded by the petitioner’s husband. Following which, the petitioner was unlawfully detained for adjacent six hours viz 12.30 PM to 06.30 PM astatine the bureau of the commanding officer, which caused terrible intelligence accent to the petitioner,” the serviceman alleged successful the petition.