An advocate and social activist has recently petitioned the Delhi High Court, requesting that the Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government be directed to carry out regular and comprehensive fire safety audits.

The petition emphasizes the need for adequate firefighting systems, addressing insufficient electric load capacities, and enforcing mandatory safety provisions in various coaching institutes, small hospitals, and nursing homes across Delhi for public safety.

Filed by Advocate N. Pardeep Sharma, the plea is scheduled to be heard by the bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora on May 31, 2024.

The plea highlighted that recent incidents, including numerous fire breakouts, have resulted in significant loss of lives and property. ‘In the past few days, it is apparent that there have been numerous accidents occurring like fire breakouts, which are causing a great loss of lives, including those of innocent children and loss of property, as the requisite disaster management operating mechanisms, fire-norms, building bye-laws and other requisite norms & guidelines are missing from these premises, against the regulatory guidelines’, the plea stated. 

The petition was submitted following the advocate's discovery of numerous newspaper articles indicating that, despite having adequate resources, the Government of NCT of Delhi has been unsuccessful in regulating the proliferation of coaching institutes, residences, and small hospitals that operate without proper facilities and in contravention of mandatory laws.

The petitioner referred to recent news items broadcasted on various channels and published in articles such as 'Disaster Officials Asked for Fire Risk Audit Last Week,' 'With NICUs Too Costly for Many, Are Smaller Clinics Necessary Evil?' and 'LG, Govt. Order Inquiry Into Blaze,' published in the Hindustan Times on May 27, 2024.

The petitioner emphasized that clinics and hospitals must adhere to statutory laws, including the Clinical Establishments Act, pollution control norms, fire safety regulations, and various central and state-specific labor laws.

Furthermore, the petitioner's contention is that such laws include obtaining approvals for infrastructure, clinical registration, pollution control consents, and medical professionals' and employees' registrations.

The plea stated, ‘No one should be allowed to play with the innocent lives for their own benefit… Authorities are duty bound to see that the laws are implemented in full’. 

Case Title: Shweta v Government of NCT of Delhi (WP(C) No. 8415/2024)