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30 Covid hospitals put on notice over fire safety certificate, Gujarat to SC
The Supreme Court bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah asked Gujarat government how it could say by issuing a notification that provisions of law will not apply.
NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government told the Supreme Court on Monday that 30 out of 328 Covid-19 hospitals in the state have been issued notices to comply with fire safety measures while the remaining 298 have a valid no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.
Gujarat, which witnessed two major fire incidents at Covid hospitals last year. faced scrutiny by the Supreme Court which noticed that a July 8 notification by the government permitted the state’s hospitals to acquire building use (BU) permission by March 2022. On July 19, the court asked the government to explain if its notification violated a Supreme Court order of December 18, 2020 ordering mandatory fire safety audit for hospitals across the country.
A fire at Shrey hospital in Ahmedabad killed eight people while another at Uday Shivanand hospital in Rajkot left five people dead.
In its affidavit, the Gujarat government said its July 8 notification extending the deadline for compliance with BU permission did not grant any extended time limit for hospitals to obtain a valid fire safety certificate. “While Fire Safety Certificate is one of the necessary pre-requisite for grant of BU Permission, there is no requirement of BU Permission for granting the Fire Safety Certificate,” the affidavit said. To make this point clear, the state said it issued a clarificatory notification on July 23 to this effect.
As on date, Gujarat said that out of 328 hospitals serving as Covid hospitals, 298 have a valid Fire NOC. Pursuant to the fire audit ordered by the top court in December 2020, the state said that out of 5,705 hospitals in the state, 4,604 possess valid Fire NOC under the Gujarat Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2013.
“All the requirements of fire safety norms related to fire systems and provisions for equipment related to fire safety or any building in the state, are mandatory and must be complied with. The authorities competent to take action under Gujarat Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2013 shall continue to take all actions, including coercive actions, in case of non-compliance,” the state added, citing its July 23 notification.
But the Gujarat government did itself in trouble over its new notification.
The bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah said: “How can the government say by issuing a notification that provisions of law will not apply. The BU permission is under the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976. You cannot stay the provisions under the Town Planning Act.”
The court wondered who advised Gujarat to issue its July 23 order which categorically suggested that the July 8 notification applied only to BU permission and not fire clearance. The bench, which posted the matter after a week, asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta to advise the state on this issue.
On July 19, the court while dealing with a suo moto petition on the issue of proper treatment to Covid-19 patients and dignified handling of dead bodies had remarked: “Hospitals have become a large industry. They survive on human distress. They cannot be protected at the cost of citizens whom they are meant to subserve.” The July 8 notification was seen as an attempt by the state government to provide a long rope to hospitals.
On the previous day, the court had even directed the state to supply a copy of the report prepared by Justice DA Mehta Committee, which gave suggestions following the two fire incidents at Covid hospitals. The report was presented to the court on Monday in a sealed cover.
