The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare ordered immediate replacement of the Medical Superintendent of AIIMS Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC) after a 4-member inquiry committee constituted to examine the suicide of a journalist submitted its report.

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The report submitted by the committee on July 10 said that no malafide intent was found in the death of the journalist. "Directed that an expert committee be constituted to suggest suitable changes in administration, for AIIMS as well as JPNATC. The report, along with its recommendations, shall be submitted before me by July 27, 2020," he tweeted. "The committee did not find any malafide intent in the death of the journalist. It also did not find any lapses in the treatment protocol of #COVID-19," he said.

Earlier, a 37-year-old journalist undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the AIIMS Trauma Centre in Delhi since June 24 died after allegedly jumping off the fourth floor of the hospital building on July 6. The journalist worked for a Hindi daily and lived with his wife and two children in northeast Delhi's Bhajanpura. Following the incident, Union Health Minister then asked the AIIMS Director to set a panel to probe the matter.

He was making significant recovery from COVID symptoms. He earlier underwent a surgery for frontal lobe meningioma (a type of brain tumour) at the G B Pant hospital in March 2020.