Bombay High Court refuses immediate relief to Bhandup hospital seeking to start operations after blaze

On April 11, the civic body had passed an order stating the provisional OC granted to Sunrise Hospital on May 6, 2020, cannot be continued further.

Nearly 11 patients under treatment for Covid-19 at Sunrise Hospital were killed after a fire broke out in the mall late on March 25. The hospital is located on the third floor of the mall. It started operations in October 2020.

Senior counsel Abad Ponda for Sunrise Hospital told a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni that it has 250 beds for Covid-19 patients and oxygen supply, and that considering the current Covid situation, the hospital should be permitted to open and function. He said the BMC’s decision was arbitrary as it did not give the hospital a hearing.

On Tuesday, senior counsel Anil Sakhare for the BMC submitted that the fire had taken place in the premises of the mall leading to 11 deaths and while the notice was issued to hospital owners, they did not appear for hearing and said the BMC decision was justified.

Opposing the plea, Sakhare said after the fire incident, the fire no objection certificate (NOC) and nursing licence of the hospital had been cancelled. He said the electricity supply of the whole building is cut off and the building has been sealed by police.

After hearing submissions, the bench said it was a fact that 11 patients died in the fire. “We do not want the hospital to start at this stage. It will have to wait,” the bench said and posted further hearing to June.