Court sends owner, another doctor to 3-day police custody

New Delhi: A court here on Monday allowed the Delhi Police’s plea seeking three days of custodial interrogation of the owner and on-duty doctor of the private hospital where a blaze killed seven newborns and injured five.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand sent Dr Naveen Khichi, the hospital’s owner and Dr Aaksh -- who was on duty at the time of the fire late on Saturday -- to a three-day police custody. A detailed order in the matter is awaited. Police arrested the two doctors on Sunday.

A massive fire broke out on Saturday night at Baby Care New Born Child Hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar that was allegedly operating illegally with an “expired” licence and no clearance from the fire department.

A case has been registered at Vivek Vihar police station under IPC sections 336 (act endangering life and personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence), 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

The Delhi BJP on Monday alleged the “suspicious” role of Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj’s OSD in the “illegally running” children’s hospital in Vivek Vihar where seven newborn babies died in a fire incident.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva in a statement alleged that the health department during an inspection in 2021 found the children’s hospital capable of admitting five newborns only but the officer on special duty (OSD) of the Health minister on an application of the hospital owner tried to approve the capacity to treat 10 babies. Bharadwaj said that nobody will be spared if found guilty. He claimed that Sachdeva was lying and the hospital was given permission for five beds only. “The Health department had earlier also lodged cases against him that are pending in the courts,” he said. Bharadwaj said that the hospital was inspected and registered in 2021 while he became the Health minister in 2023. Any attempt to link him with registration of the hospital will be dealt with legal action, he warned.