The Gujarat government was pulled up by the Supreme Court today for bringing a notification to reverse its order on fire safety norms in hospitals treating Covid patients. Accusing the state of a breach, the court said the notification only gives more time to hospitals that do not have a fire safety system and till they take action, patients will continue to die.
“Once there is an order by us, it cannot be overridden by an executive notification like this. You (Gujarat) now give carte blanche and say hospitals do not have to adhere till 2022 and people will continue to die by burning,” said Justice DY Chandrachud.
Seeking an explanation from Gujarat on the notification, the court asked the state government to submit an action taken report on the fire audit conducted under its order of December 2020.
That time, after a fire in a Covid hospital in Gujarat, the top court had asked for a fire audit of all such hospitals and directed states to take action against those that did not have fire safety clearance.
Gujarat wanted time to file its reply, but court asked about the notification today.
“We read in newspapers that Gujarat had brought out a notification giving time till March 2022 for hospitals to comply with our orders,” said Justice MR Shah, who was part of the bench.
With inputs from NDTV
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