HC asks Delhi govt to submit report on fire norms at nursing homes in 8 weeks

The Delhi high court on Saturday granted the Delhi government eight weeks to file a report regarding the formulation of fire safety norms for small hospitals and nursing homes, as well as to conduct regular comprehensive fire safety audits for such facilities.
A bench comprising acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet PS Arora sought the report from the Aam Aadmi Party government in response to two public interest litigations filed by advocate Yugansh Mittal and social worker Shweta Goel. These petitions were prompted by the recent fire at the Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar, which resulted in the deaths of seven infants.
Mittal’s petition requested the Delhi government to establish specific fire safety norms for smaller hospitals and to inspect these facilities for compliance with the existing Delhi fire service rules. Goel’s petition called for regular comprehensive fire safety audits and ensuring that these hospitals have adequate firefighting systems and sufficient electric load capacity.
During the hearing on Saturday, Mittal, represented by advocate KC Mittal, emphasised that out of 1,000 nursing homes in the Capital, only 196 reportedly had fire licenses. He further pointed out that there were no fire safety rules for nursing homes housed in buildings below 9 metres. Mittal pointed out that a committee chaired by the then-health minister had drafted guidelines in 2018 to bring small hospitals and nursing homes under safety regulations, but no action had been taken since.
Goel’s advocate, Pradeep Sharma, cited data from the Delhi government health department, highlighting that out of 1,183 registered nursing homes, 340 were operating with expired registrations.
Considering these arguments, the bench said the Delhi government should consider the suggestions made in the petitions, underlining that the ultimate responsibility for enforcement lies with state authorities.
“These are salutary suggestions. We can direct the state to consider your suggestions,” the bench said.
Agreeing with the court’s proposal, the Delhi government’s standing counsel, Santosh Kumar Tripathi, said he had no objection to the court directing the government to take appropriate action on the pleas. He assured that the government would not treat the petitions as adversarial.