Supreme Court raps Gujarat govt over delay in conducting fire audits in COVID hospitals

The Supreme Court on Monday observed that medical institutions in India have become large industries that thrive on human distress while hearing a plea regarding fire accidents in hospitals across the country. Hearing a suo motu plea regarding fire incidents in COVID hospitals, the apex court asked if hospitals were providing service to humanity or the real estate industry.

"Do we look at hospitals as a real estate industry, or as a service to humanity?" asked Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah, reported ANI.

Noting that several hospitals failed to adhere to fire safety norms, Justice Chandrachud noted, "Hospitals have become a large industry now based on human distress. We cannot allow them to prosper at the cost of human lives. Let such hospitals be closed and allow the state to bolster health care facilities. Let not such hospitals operate in buildings with four rooms etc."

The Supreme Court also gave an instance where a recovered COVID patient and two nurses were burnt alive due to a fire incident in the hospital. "These tragedies have unfolded in front of our eyes. Are these hospitals are real estate industry or providing service to humanity?" asked the Bench.

The bench also pulled up the Gujarat government for failing to follow guidelines regarding the fire safety measures in hospitals and asked why the state government had extended the time till June 2022 for hospitals to get NOC despite the Supreme Court's order.

"You say hospitals don't have to adhere till 2022 and people will continue dying and be burnt," the Bench observed.

The apex court had ordered fire safety audits in hospitals across India after fire incidents in COVID hospitals in Gujarat and Maharashtra killed several people. In December 2020, the Supreme Court had directed all states to appoint nodal officers in every hospital to ensure fire safety norms are followed.

Fire in COVID hospitals

Last year, five COVID-19 patients were killed and six others were injured as the blaze broke out in the ICU of Uday Shivananda Covid Hospital in Rajkot. 18 people, including two nurses, also died in a fire incident in a trust-run hospital in Bharuch. Similar fire incidents were also reported in Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Jamnagar.