Now, Chandigarh admn slaps ₹31.8-crore fine on GMSH chemist
Setting a fresh deadline of 10 am, February 17, to vacate the shop, the Chandigarh administration has also warned the chemist of a monthly fine of ₹17 lakh in case the order is not adhered to
After reclaiming the passage encroached upon by the sole chemist shop at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, on Wednesday, the UT administration has now slapped a fine of ₹31.8 crore on the shop owner as damages.
The director, health and family welfare, UT, has also imposed a fine of ₹29,000 as cost of clearing the passage.
Setting a fresh deadline of 10 am, February 17, to vacate the shop, the administration has also warned the chemist of a monthly fine of ₹17 lakh in case the order is not adhered to.
The chemist shop, the only one at the hospital, first came in the spotlight in the second week of September 2022 after an inspection by the UT health department found that it was being operated by the same firm for 29 long years through multiple extensions and renewals, and at minimal rent as compared to market price.
The shop was allotted on lease for only two years through an auction in 1993. While the first lease ended in 1995, the hospital authorities never floated a fresh tender and continued to extend the lease every five years, with the latest extension occurring in 2019 – for up to 2024, the inspection had found.
The health director’s order on Thursday said that the lease of the chemist shop had been terminated via order dated October 31, 2022, but the shop owner was yet to hand over its possession. Also, the owner had illegally extended the shop by permanently merging the adjacent passage since 2010, thereby doubling the shop’s size.
“The illegal encroachment has not only caused inconvenience to patients, attendants, doctors and paramedical staff but also resulted in the shop owner’s enrichment. You were paying rent for the allotted space only while you were using adjacent public passages also illegally without paying additional cost,” the order mentioned.
On February 14, following the Punjab and Haryana high court’s stay on the lower court’s order, the shop owner was directed to immediately vacate the public passage, restore the load bearing wall and hand over the physical possession of the shop by February 15.
“Though the chemist shop is required to be kept open 24x7, you went away locking the shop instead of clearing the public passage. The department waited for your response till 12.15 pm on February 15 and left with no alternative, cleared the public passage,” the director’s order said.
The whole exercise was executed by officials from UT’s health and engineering departments under police protection, and in presence of an executive magistrate.
“You are liable to pay the cost of clearing the public passage and restoration of the load bearing wall. You are liable to pay damages for encroachment of the public passage,” the order added.
A public notice for e-tender of the shop has already been issued and e-bids will be opened on March 10.
