The incident of a young mother’s death and four other mothers’ severe illness after they were allegedly administered with intravenous (IV) fluids of particular brand after their caesarean operations in the state-run Midnapore Medical College Hospital (MMCH) on Monday reached the Calcutta High Court (HC).

Two public interest litigations (PILs) were filed today separately in the HC by lawyer Phiroze Edulji and lawyer Kaustav Bagchi.

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The HC will hear the case filed by the petitioner Mr Edulji on Thursday seeking a CBI probe into the death of the young mother and illness of the four other pregnant women.

Mentioning the matter before a division Bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, the petitioner prayed for the constitution of a special investigation team to probe the alleged use of contaminated or expired intravenous fluid in the MMCH.

Mr Edulji informed the court that the company supplying the intravenous fluid had been red-flagged in March 2024 by the Karnataka government and banned the firm from supplying the product for three years.

Mr Edulji prayed that the investigation be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure impartiality and transparency.

The division Bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, said the matter would be taken up for hearing on Thursday.

The court directed the petitioner’s lawyer to notify the state Advocate General’s office to ensure representation by the West Bengal government during the hearing.

On Wednesday, five young mothers were given expired IV fluid Ringers Lactate (RL) following caesarean procedures during child births at the MMCH. All of them fell ill soon after the fluids were administered. Three of them fell critically ill and one, Mamoni Ruidas died at the MMCH on Friday. Two others Mampi Singh and Nasrin Khatun were shifted to critical care unit (CCU) with support of ventilators at the hospital showing severe kidney ailments while the condition of another woman Minara Bibi is better.

The state government has formed a 13-member panel comprising cardiologist, general medicine expert, gynaecologist, anaesthetist, nephrologist etc to investigate the matter.

Three women were brought to the SSKM Hospital on Sunday night through a green corridor in critical condition from the MMCH.

The family members of the deceased lodged a police complaint, alleging that the hospital authorities were responsible for her death.