The Supreme Court will take up the case on November 3.
The Supreme Court today expressed its unhappiness over the Gujarat government's response on last week's fire tragedy at a Rajkot COVID-19 hospital in which six people died.
The court, which terms the Rajot incident "shocking", said the state was suppressing facts and directed the government to file a fresh affidavit with correct facts.
The Supreme Court had earlier sought a report from the state government on Friday's fire incident at Rajkot's Uday Shivanand Hospital in which six people died. According to the police, the fire started in the ICU and investigation had revealed negligence on part of the hospital authorities, PTI reported.
"According to you (Gujarat) everything is good, but your stand is contrary to your own Chief Electrical Engineer's report about wiring," the court said today.
"We have seen Gujarat's reply. Five people have died on the seventh floor. What kind of affidavit is this? No attempts should be made to suppress the facts," said a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan which had last week taken cognisance of Rajkot fire incident.
Three officials of the company, Gokul Healthcare, which runs the hospital, were arrested on Monday night. This includes chairman Dr Prakash Modha, his son and executive director Dr Vishal Modha, and director Dr Tejas Karamta, according to PTI.
The Supreme Court today asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure all facts were brought out in the new affidavit that the state has been asked to file. Mr Mehta apprised the bench that the Centre has issued guidelines on fire safety in hospitals across the country.
The court will take up the case on Thursday, November 3.
The Uday Shivanand COVID-19 Hospital received the nod to function on September 15, according to PTI. It began operations on three floors rented at a hospital being run by the Shivanand Mission Trust.
The probe into the fire showed several norms allegedly not followed, according to the police. The hospital did not follow fire prevention protocols while safety measures, too, were lacking, hampering rescue operation and resulting in the death of five patients, Rajkot police officials had said.