The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Gujarat government over "attempts to suppress facts" with regard to fire tragedies in private Covid hospitals in the state.
The court had earlier taken cognizance of the fire tragedy in Rajkot hospital which caused the death of five persons.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah told the Gujarat government counsel, "We have seen your reply. According to you, everything is good. So far state hospital is concerned, all is well."
"So far the commission is concerned (to probe the fire tragedy), it has also expired, and also the state government stand is contrary to your own chief electrical engineering officer in connection with the status of wiring in the hospital," the bench pointed out.
The bench also referred to the Ahmedabad fire tragedy in a Covid-19 hospital in August, where eight people died.
Maintaining that no attempt should be made to suppress the facts, the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to look into the matter and ensure a proper report was filed.
The court put the matter for further consideration, on Thursday.
On November 27, the court termed the fire incident in Rajkot hospital as shocking and sought a report.
Fire incidents in hospitals killing patients are recurring and there is no action taken by States to prevent it, the court had said.
(Published 01 December 2020, 14:22 IST)
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