Supreme Court advocate urges CJI to initiate time-bound probe into Jhansi medical college fire

Police security is provided to sealed entrance of the paediatrics department at Jhansi’s Maharani Laxmibai Medical College where a massive fire on Nov. 15 night killed 10 infants.
| Photo Credit: A.M. Faruqui

Supreme Court advocate Amit Dwivedi has written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), seeking a time-bound inquiry into a blaze in the neonatal intensive care unit of a medical college in Uttar Pradesh that killed 17 infants.

In the letter to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Sunday (November 25, 2024), Mr. Dwivedi — who hails from the Bundelkhand region — sought the constitution of a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge “to conduct a time-bound inquiry into the fire incident in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] of the government-run hospital… which resulted in the deaths of 15 infants”.

Thirty-nine newborns were rescued from a devastating fire in the neonatal intensive care unit of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi on the night of November 15.

While 10 babies died on the night of the fire, seven more succumbed later.

The letter highlighted reports of severe negligence, including the alleged absence of functioning fire extinguishers in the ward.

Mr. Dwivedi emphasised that accountability must be established and justice delivered to the grieving families. “The fire in the NICU is not an isolated incident but a continuation of the systemic failures that plague government healthcare in Bundelkhand.” He also accused some government doctors of prioritising private practice over public service, exacerbating the healthcare crisis.

He urged the Chief Justice of India to expand the inquiry’s mandate to address larger systemic issues, including the impact of private practice by government doctors.

The advocate also proposed stringent guidelines and penalties to curb such practices, which he described as a betrayal of public trust.

Official sources said the fire broke out around 10:45 p.m., possibly due to a short circuit.