“Once there is an order by us, it cannot be overridden by an executive notification like this,” said Justice DY Chandrachud.
The Supreme Court pulled up the Gujarat government today for bringing a notification to reverse the SC’s order on fire safety norms in Covid hospitals, although there have been numerous deaths of patients in fire incidents.
“Once there is an order by us, it cannot be overridden by an executive notification. You (Gujarat) now give carte blanche and say hospitals do not have to adhere (to the order) till 2022 and people will continue to die by burning,” said Justice DY Chandrachud.
The judges accused the state of breaching the order and said that the notification only gives more time to hospitals that do not have a fire safety system and till they take action, patients will continue to die. “The notification gives the impression that the state is protecting illegality,” the court said.
“At Nashik (Maharashtra) one person recovered and was to be released the next day. Two nurses went to the washroom. All were burnt alive,” Justice Chandrachud said. “These are human tragedies unfolded before our eyes. Hospitals have become a large real estate industry and they survive on human stress. Hospitals in small four rooms must be closed,” he added.
Demanding that the judges asked the state government to explain the notification through an affidavit and also submit an action taken report regarding the fire safety audit conducted under the court’s order of December 2020.
The Gujarat government wanted additional time to file its reply to the court, but the top court asked about the notification today. “We read in newspapers that Gujarat had brought out a notification giving time till March 2022 for hospitals to comply with our orders,” said Justice MR Shah, who was part of the bench.
According to a report by PTI, in late November, in a fire incident, six people had died at Rajkot’s Uday Shivanand Hospital, where Covid patients were treated. The police said the fire started in the Intensive Care Unit, and the investigation revealed negligence on part of the hospital authorities.
The Supreme Court had said the state was suppressing facts, terming the incident “shocking”. “According to you (Gujarat) everything is good, but your stand is contrary to your own Chief Electrical Engineer’s report about wiring,” said the court.
18 people died at a hospital in Bharuch after yet another fire in May this year. The Gujarat High Court, furious, had declared that “somebody has to be made accountable”.
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