New Delhi:
The Gujarat authorities was pulled up by the Supreme Court in the present day for bringing a notification to reverse its order on fireplace security norms in Covid hospitals, even after the deaths of quite a few sufferers in a number of fireplace incidents. Accusing the state of a breach of order, the judges mentioned the notification solely offers extra time to hospitals that shouldn’t have a hearth security system and until they take motion, sufferers will proceed to die. “The notification gives the impression that the state is protecting illegality,” the court docket mentioned.
“Once there is an order by us, it cannot be overridden by an executive notification like this. 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,” mentioned Justice DY Chandrachud.
“At Nashik (Maharashtra) one person recovered and was to be released next day. Two nurses went to washroom. All were burnt alive,” Justice Chandrachud mentioned. “These are human tragedies unfolded before our eyes. Hospitals have become large real estate industry and they survive on human stress. Hospitals in small four rooms must be closed,” he added.
Demanding that the state clarify the notification by an affidavit, the judges requested the state authorities to additionally submit an motion taken report concerning the fireplace security audit performed underneath the court docket’s order of December 2020.
Gujarat wished time to file its reply, however the high court docket requested concerning the notification in the present day. “We read in newspapers that Gujarat had brought out a notification giving time till March 2022 for hospitals to comply with our orders,” mentioned Justice MR Shah, who was a part of the bench.
In late November, six folks had died at Rajkot’s Uday Shivanand Hospital, the place Covid sufferers had been handled. The police mentioned the fireplace began within the Intensive Care Unit, and investigation revealed negligence on a part of the hospital authorities, PTI reported.
Terming the incident “shocking”, the Supreme Court had mentioned the state was suppressing info. “According to you (Gujarat) everything is good, but your stand is contrary to your own Chief Electrical Engineer’s report about wiring,” the court docket had mentioned.
In May this 12 months, 18 folks died at a hospital in Bharuch after one more fireplace. The Gujarat High Court, livid, had declared that “somebody has to be made accountable”.
Pointing out that the state authorities did not take motion on its earlier orders on stopping fireplace incidents, the High Court mentioned, “It amounts to the contempt of courts, of all the orders passed by the courts in the past. Ultimately, it amounts to the contemptuous action on the part of the state for not being vigilant so that such incidents are not repeated again and again”.
