Maharashtra hospital fire: Vasai court rejects bail pleas of CEO, director

Vasai sessions court judge Aditi Kadam on Friday rejected the bail pleas of Vijay Vallabh Hospital’s chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Dilip Bastimal Shah, 56, and director Dr Shailesh Dharamdev Pathak, 47

Vasai sessions court judge Aditi Kadam on Friday rejected the bail pleas of Vijay Vallabh Hospital’s chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Dilip Bastimal Shah, 56, and director Dr Shailesh Dharamdev Pathak, 47. The duo has been arrested for culpable homicide in connection to the April 23 fire that had killed 15 Covid-19 patients at the Virar hospital.

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Dr Shah and Dr Pathak are lodged in Thane jail, said additional public prosecutor Jaiprakash Patil, who appeared for the state. Opposing Dr Shah and Dr Pathak’s bail pleas, Patil said before the court that only six fire extinguishers were in working condition when the blaze broke out, while 14 extinguishers were non-functional and their operational validity had expired. Patil also submitted that the hospital management had ignored the renewal of the working permits of extinguishers.

He further argued that the hospital had not applied for a fire audit to obtain the mandatory no objection certificate (NOC) from the Vasai civic body. Patil also said that the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) in its report said that the hospital “under-used” the sanctioned power supply and was not running on optimum power. On these grounds, the hospital is liable for negligence, Patil submitted.

Defence counsel Siddhesh Naik said the fire was caused by the excess presence of oxygen in the ICU and hence the duo should be tried for death due to negligence not amounting to culpable homicide and that it would be unfair to keep them inside the Thane jail during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the court rejected the bail pleas of the two accused.