Hospitals Have Become Like Huge Real Estate Industries Instead Of Serving Humanity: Supreme Court

The top court said that instead of allowing private hospitals to operate from small residential buildings, state governments can provide better hospitals. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said that hospitals have become big industries and all this is happening by putting human life in danger. We cannot let them prosper at the cost of life. It would be better if such hospitals should be closed.

Actually, the top court was hearing the case of fire in hospitals in Gujarat. The top court pulled up the Gujarat government for extending the deadline for hospitals with regard to building use permission till June 2022. The top court asked the state government to withdraw this notification giving exemption to hospitals.

The bench said that a patient who had recovered from Kovid and was to be discharged the next day, died due to fire and two nurses were also burnt alive. The bench said that these are human tragedies, which happened before our eyes. Yet we extend the time for these hospitals.

Industries have become hospitals: Court
The bench said that once a mandamus has been issued, it cannot be overridden by such an executive notification. Your point is that hospitals do not have to comply with the order till June 2022 and people will keep dying and burning till then. The bench observed that hospitals have become a real estate industry and instead of providing assistance to patients in distress, it was widely felt that they have become money making machines.

It’s not a nuclear mystery: Court
The top court also expressed displeasure over the filing of a commission’s report in a sealed cover on the issue of fire safety in hospitals. Justice Chandrachud said that which report of the commission is in a sealed cover? This is no nuclear mystery.

The apex court was hearing a case relating to fire tragedies in COVID-19 hospitals across the country in the wake of arson incidents in hospitals in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

On December 9 last year, the Supreme Court had asked the central government to take the fire safety audit reports done in hospitals from the states and present them in the court. Following this, the Supreme Court on December 18 ordered that the state government should constitute a committee to conduct a fire audit of each Covid hospital at least once a month and report the deficiency to the hospital’s management.

The top court said that instead of allowing private hospitals to operate from small residential buildings, state governments can provide better hospitals. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said that hospitals have become big industries and all this is happening by putting human life in danger. We cannot let them prosper at the cost of life. It would be better if such hospitals should be closed.

Actually, the top court was hearing the case of fire in hospitals in Gujarat. The top court pulled up the Gujarat government for extending the deadline for hospitals with regard to building use permission till June 2022. The top court asked the state government to withdraw this notification giving exemption to hospitals.

The bench said that a patient who had recovered from Kovid and was to be discharged the next day, died due to fire and two nurses were also burnt alive. The bench said that these are human tragedies, which happened before our eyes. Yet we extend the time for these hospitals.

Industries have become hospitals: Court

The bench said that once a mandamus has been issued, it cannot be overridden by such an executive notification. Your point is that hospitals do not have to comply with the order till June 2022 and people will keep dying and burning till then. The bench observed that hospitals have become a real estate industry and instead of providing assistance to patients in distress, it was widely felt that they have become money making machines.

It’s not a nuclear mystery: Court

The top court also expressed displeasure over the filing of a commission’s report in a sealed cover on the issue of fire safety in hospitals. Justice Chandrachud said that which report of the commission is in a sealed cover? This is no nuclear mystery.

The apex court was hearing a case relating to fire tragedies in COVID-19 hospitals across the country in the wake of arson incidents in hospitals in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

On December 9 last year, the Supreme Court had asked the central government to take the fire safety audit reports done in hospitals from the states and present them in the court. Following this, the Supreme Court on December 18 ordered that the state government should constitute a committee to conduct a fire audit of each Covid hospital at least once a month and report the deficiency to the hospital’s management.