The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Gujarat government permission to task the Justice D.A. Mehta Enquiry Committee, set up to investigate the fire at a private hospital in Rajkot, to also probe the reasons for the massive blaze at a COVID-19 dedicated hospital in Ahmedabad in which several persons died.
Appearing before a Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said the clubbing of both incidents under the same committee would facilitate an early report.
“He submits that fire which happened in Ahmedabad in Shrey Hospital may also be looked under the jurisdiction of the same committee so that an early report may be submitted and appropriate measures may be taken with regard to hospitals where fire broke resulting in the death of several patients. It will be open for the government to do so by issuing appropriate notification,” the court ordered.
Mr. Mehta, who also appears for the Centre, said a direction has been issued to States to constitute an appropriate committee to compile data on the steps they have taken to prevent blazes like that in Gujarat. This was in response to a direction from the court to the Centre to conduct a “fire safety audit” across the country.
The court scheduled the case for hearing next on December 14.
