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On Tuesday, the Gujarat High Court admonished the state government for its lax attitude towards fire safety, reportedly remarking that the government only “wakes up” when the court takes up the issue. The court was hearing a PIL moved by Advocate Amit Panchal.
A division bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Bhargav Karia also sought reports from the state government and municipal corporations detailing compliance, non-compliance or partial compliance with respect to two sets of directions issued by the court on December 15, 2020 and February 26, 2021 on the issue of fire safety.
The Indian Express reported the court’s oral remarks to Advocate General Kamal Trivedi. The court reportedly said, “You’ve woken up only after the court issued notices and passed orders… so many buildings (are) without BU (building use) permissions and (fire) NOCs… and this is going on since years!” The court further asked, “There were specific directions given to corporations, to nagarpalikas, to everyone, to see to it that all provisions are strictly complied with. Why are no actions being taken?”
SabrangIndia had previously reported on the matter related to the fire that had broken out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Ahmedabad’s Shrey Hospital leading to the deaths of eight Covid-19 patients on August 6, 2020. Advocate Suhel Tirmizi, whose wife Ayesha was one of the victims, had filed a PIL demanding accountability be fixed on various state and hospital authorities.
December 15, 2020 order of the Gujarat High Court
On December 15, while passing orders in a batch of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) in connection with the Shrey Hospital fire case, the Gujarat High Court had made a series of pertinent observations and passed orders that are bound to have a far-reaching impact.
The court ordered the State of Gujarat “to enact a consolidated Code/Act/Guidelines for fire safety requirement for clinical establishments/hospitals of all kinds setting out minimum standards of fire safety standards to be maintained by clinical establishments/ hospitals such as across the State of Gujarat.” It also directed the state government “to frame rules and guidelines for fire safety in ICU wards of the hospitals.”
It further ordered all respondent authorities “to comply with the provisions of Gujarat Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2013 strictly in clinical establishments such as Hospital/Nursing Homes/ School buildings of the city of Ahmedabad.”
Significantly, it also directed respondent authorities “to make mandatory installation of sprinkles and a fire extinguisher in every room/ward of every Hospital/Nursing Home irrespective of its height with a view to protect lives of innocent and infirm patients who are not capable of escaping any disaster in case of emergency situations.”
February 26, 2021 order of the Gujarat High Court
On February 26, the court ordered that all Municipal Corporations mentioned in the PIL be served notice. It further ordered, “We direct all the Municipal Corporations to place on C/WPPIL/118/2020 ORDER record by way of an affidavit, a list of all the high rise buildings
-15 metres and 18 metres in height, special buildings, schools, hospitals, industries and factories within the jurisdictional limits of all the Municipal Corporations :
a. Which have a valid and subsisting No Objection Certificate with regard to the Fire Prevention and Protection Systems in the State of Gujarat ;
AND b. Which do not have a valid and subsisting No Objection Certificate with regard to the Fire Prevention and Protection Systems in the State of Gujarat”
The court also ordered, “We direct the Municipal Commissioners of all the Municipal Corporations to state on affidavit what action has been taken by the Municipal Corporations against the erring high rise buildings – 15 metres and 18 metres in height, special buildings, schools, hospitals, industries and factories within the jurisdictional limits of all the Municipal Corporations, which do not have a valid and subsisting No Objection Certificate.”
When it comes to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the Court had ordered, “Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is directed to place on record by way of an affidavit, the details of all the private hospitals which have not complied with the directions issued in Paragraph No. 23(14) of our earlier Order dated 15.12.2020” and that it was “directed to place on record the photocopies of the No Objection Certificates issued to all the hospitals located within the jurisdictional limits of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation signed and certified by the Competent Authority within a period of 10 days from the date of the receipt of this order. One set of such photocopies shall also be furnished to the party-in-person.”
Specifically, when it came to reopening the Shrey Hospital, the court had on February 26, 2021 ordered, “The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is directed not to remove or open the seals applied at the premises of the Shrey Hospital without the permission of this Court and shall not permit the Management to once again start with the functioning of the Hospital without the permission of this Court.”
Related:
Shrey Hospital Fire: Guj HC bats for greater accountability
SC takes suo moto cognisance of Rajkot Covid Hospital fire
Shrey Hospital Fire: Four months on, no evidence yet!