Delhi Hospital Fire: Safety Norms Violated, Staff Did Not Act Fast, Says Police Charge Sheet

New Delhi: The Delhi Police filed a 796-page charge sheet in relation to the fire incident at the private neonatal hospital in east Delhi. They found that the hospital was operating without fire safety measures and that staff did not act quickly enough when the fire started. 
Seven babies lost their lives on May 25 when a large fire broke out at a private children's hospital in Vivek Vihar, east Delhi.

The officials of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) had said the blaze broke out at the Baby Care New Born Hospital at around 11.30 pm, which soon spread to two other adjacent buildings. Due to the fire, many oxygen cylinders kept in the two-story building exploded, which damaged the adjacent buildings.

Hospital Owner & Doctor Arrested In The Case

Two men the owner of the hospital, Naveen Khichi, and a BAMS doctor, Akash, who were on duty on the day of the incident, were arrested in connection with the case. The charge sheet was filed at a city court on Monday and has cited the statements of 81 witnesses along with forensic reports.

"During the investigation, we checked a total of eight points about the statutory requirement to run NICU and the norms which were violated by the hospital. Regarding fire safety, there is no document available to show the safety measures that have been implemented by the hospital. The hospital had the permission to function with five beds but was running with 12 beds," said a senior police officer, referring to the charge sheet.

Documents received from the Directorate of Health Services, Delhi, prove that the nursing home was granted a license to run the NICU for five beds in 2021 for three years. The renewal application was under submission with DGHS.

No Qualified Nurses Deployed, Says Officer

The officer said only BAMS doctors were deployed to take care of infants admitted to NICU. No qualified nurses were deployed, the officer said, adding that it is a must they must possess minimum qualification of General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) along with DNC registration.

Police observed that at the time of issuance of a license, the accused gave a declaration that they would have five oxygen cylinders of Category B type and 15 cylinders of Category D type.

What Led To The Incident

However, at the time of the incident, there were 31 oxygen cylinders kept in the hospital, which violated the declaration submitted by the hospital to the authorities, the officer said. These cylinders were stored in a hazardous manner and exploded when the blaze started. "From the investigation conducted so far and relying upon the statements of witnesses recorded under section 161 of the CrPC, sufficient evidence has come on record against the accused Khichi and Akash for the death of the seven infants by their known act of running a hospital for NICU beyond permissible beds, without qualified RMO and nurses, without fire safety devices and not acting swiftly in the event of fire," the charge sheet said.

Police, in their charge sheet, observed that the owner of the hospital is a qualified doctor and a professional person with full knowledge that newborn babies are very vulnerable and even a small incident can be fatal for them.

"Initially, the case was registered under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC, but subsequently, based on the evidence on record, section 304 (culpable homicide), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (common intention) and 75 of the JJ Act were invoked," it read.

The charge sheet, while citing the statement of the nursing staff on duty, said the owner of the nursing home allowed the other male staff to cook on the rooftop. This issue was also brought to the knowledge of the owner but to no avail, the charge sheet said, adding that the structural design of the nursing home was not safe for emergency.

Forensic Team Annexed To Charge Sheet

The inspection reports of forensic experts, the Delhi Fire Service, the Electrical Inspector, and the MCD team, have also been annexed to the charge sheet. The accused kept inflammable material, like bundles of old papers and wooden material, and their presence aggravated the fire.

The doctor, who carried out the post-mortem, opined that the cause of death of the infants was due to burns. The viscera and femur samples of deceased infants were deposited in FSL in Rohini for analysis and expert opinion, and their reports are still awaited. 

(With inputs from PTI)