© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Bombay High Court has ordered an inquiry against certain officers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over registration of a Mumbai hospital, connected to an alleged botched up medical procedure on a road accident victim who died 11 years ago.
A bench comprising Justices Manish Pitale and Manjusha Deshpande directed the commissioner of the municipal corporation to institute an inquiry into the genuineness of the certificate issued in favour of Millenium Hospital, Govandi, Mumbai.
The accident victims’ mother, represented by advocate Misbah Amin Solkar, had approached the court in 2015 demanding status of action taken by state agencies on the allegations of death of her son in 2014 due to the alleged botched-up medical procedure at the hospital.
The woman had alleged that the hospital demanded Rs 75,000 before admitting her son after he had met with an accident. It was further alleged that during the surgery of her son, electricity went off in the operation theatre for about four hours.
While dealing with the matter relating to the registration of the hospital, a division bench of the court had earlier sought the response from the municipal corporation. In its response, the corporation claimed that all the facts could not be accurately placed before the court on earlier occasions “due to miscommunication”, oversight and lack of inter-departmental coordination.
The court said that the inquiry will also focus on whether the certificate can date back to April 13, 2022, which is issued on September 20, 2024 and can it be valid up to March 31, 2027, in the light of Section 5(2) of the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1966.
Section 5(2) of the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1966, provides that a certificate of registration issued under the said provision shall be valid until 31st day of March of the third year following the date on which such certificate is issued or renewed.
The court has also directed the municipal commissioner to inquire why true and correct facts were not placed by the municipal corporation.
The court directed the commissioner of the municipal corporation to provide a report on action taken against the responsible officers for ‘misleading’ the court regarding the actual registration of the hospital.
“The inquiry shall be completed by the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation within six weeks from today. The report shall be submitted in a sealed cover to this Court within said period of time,” the court said.
Apart from this, the counsel for the Municipal Corporation submitted that a copy of the certificate tendered on behalf of Millenium Hospital, Mumbai, was indeed a genuine certificate. It is submitted that the registration dates back to April 13, 2022 and the date of issuance of certificate is September 20, 2024, valid up to March 31, 2027.
“We find it strange that the Municipal Corporation chose not to refer to the said registration certificate in any of the earlier affidavits, and this is sought to be explained on the basis of miscommunication and poor interdepartmental coordination,” the court said.
It further added, “It is all the more surprising that when respondent No.9– Millenium Hospital, Govandi, Mumbai, has been facing the heat in this petition, as is evident from various orders passed by this Court, in its affidavit dated 10.12.2024 it chose not to refer to the said certificate of registration purportedly issued by the Municipal Corporation on 20.09.2024, showing the date of registration from 13.04.2022 and being valid upto 31.03.2027.”
The court also noted that Section 5(2) of the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1966, provides that a certificate of registration issued under the said provision shall be valid until 31st day of March of the third year following the date on which such certificate is issued or renewed.
“If the certification is indeed from 13.04.2022, it would have been valid only up til 31.03.2025,” the court said.
The court therefore ordered an inquiry into the matter.
“We find that these facts warrant an inquiry into the matter, as prima facie, we are convinced that neither the concerned officer of the Municipal Corporation nor the respondent No.9–Millenium Hospital, Govandi, Mumbai, have come out with true facts before this Court,” the court directed.
