The Delhi Police on July 22 filed a 796-page charge sheet in the case, noting that the facility was operating without fire safety measures and that staff did not act quickly enough when the incident started, two months after a fire in a private newborn hospital in east Delhi.
The charge sheet, which was submitted to a city court, included forensic reports and the testimony of 81 witnesses.
On May 25, a large fire started at a private children's hospital in Vivek Vihar, east Delhi.
The accident claimed the lives of seven newborns.
Around 11.30 pm, according to Delhi Fire Services (DFS) authorities, a fire broke out at the Baby Care New Born Hospital and quickly spread to two other nearby buildings.
Many oxygen cylinders stored in the two-story building burst out as a result of the fire, causing damage to the nearby structures.
In relation to the crime, two men were taken into custody: Naveen Khichi, the hospital's owner, and Akash, a BAMS physician who was on duty the day of the incident.
Documents obtained from the Directorate of Health Services, Delhi, attest to the fact that the nursing home was given permission to operate a three-year, five-bed NICU in 2021. The application for renewal was being submitted to DGHS.
According to the officer, infants admitted to the NICU were solely cared for by BAMS doctors. The officer stated that no qualified nurses had been assigned and that they were required to hold a DNC registration and the minimal qualification of General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM).
Police noted that the accused stated they would have 15 Category D cylinders and five Category B cylinders of oxygen when they were granted a license.
According to the officer, the hospital had declared to the authorities that it did not have 31 oxygen cylinders on hand at the time of the occurrence. When the fire began, these cylinders, which had been stored dangerously, exploded.
"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.
According to the police charge sheet, the hospital's owner is a licensed doctor and a professional who is fully aware of how sensitive newborns are and how even a minor occurrence can have catastrophic consequences 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 said that the the owner of the nursing home permitted the other male employees to cook on the rooftop, citing the word of the on-duty nursing staff.
The charge sheet stated that the owner was also made aware of this problem, but to no avail, and that the nursing home's structural layout made emergency evacuation unsafe.
The charge sheet has also been attached with the inspection reports from the MCD team, the Delhi Fire Service, the Electrical Inspector, and the forensic experts.
The accuser's control over combustible items, such as wooden components and bundles of outdated paperwork, aggravated the fire.
The doctor who performed the post-mortem concluded that burns were the cause of the infants' deaths.
Reports from the analysis and expert opinion of the viscera and femur samples of the infants who passed away are still pending from FSL in Rohini.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)
