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Will build 3,000-bed rest house; offered land to DUSIB to set up 80 tents, AIIMS tells HC

Acting on reports on packed night shelters forcing patients awaiting treatment and their attendants to sleep in the open in the cold, the HC had on Wednesday directed DUSIB to temporarily take over subways around major hospitals and make arrangements, including setting up beds.

2 min readNew DelhiJan 17, 2026 10:11 AM IST

AIIMS tells Delhi High Court it will build 3,000 bed Vishram Sadan to house patients and attendants sleeping outside hospital during winter.

The AIIMS on Friday informed the Delhi High Court that it will undertake the construction of a 3,000-bed Vishram Sadan (rest house) to accommodate patients awaiting treatment and their attendants, who sleep on the streets during winter. It added that it has also offered a “suitable parcel of land” to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to erect around 80 pagoda tents for the same purpose.

Acting on reports on packed night shelters forcing patients awaiting treatment and their attendants to sleep in the open in the cold, the HC had on Wednesday directed DUSIB to temporarily take over subways around major hospitals and make arrangements, including setting up beds.

According to AIIMS, the proposed rest house — to come up on around 2 acres of land at Ansari Nagar (West) — is intended to replace its existing 300-bed Vishram Sadan.

The Sevadaan Arogya Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Ahmedabad, has expressed its willingness to develop the rest house, which is expected to be completed in around two years, the AIIMS said in a report — filed through its counsel Satya Ranjan Swain — submitted before the court.

The bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia recorded that the proposal of AIIMS to set up the 3,000-bed rest house “shall go a long way in meeting the problem of homeless attendants and patients”. “We expect that the said facility shall come up in the minimum possible time,” it added.

The counsel for DUSIB said 20 new pagodas have been set up near AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital and more would be erected by the evening. “Twenty tents each have also been erected near RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital,” he added.

Meanwhile, the court allowed an individual, Dushyant Semwal — represented by his advocates Simran Chawdhary and Shambhavi Singh — to intervene in the case and assist the court with suggestions from time to time.

Sohini Ghosh

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

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