Prince Aly Khan hospital demolition: Bombay High Court asks Mumbai civic body to take action – India Today

The Bombay high court (HC) has asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to decide on the demolition of the 70-year-old Prince Aly Khan Hospital after an audit from IIT-Bombay found structural issues beyond repairs at the hospital and recommended it to be razed.

The Bombay High Court had, on October 3, requested IIT-B to carry out a structural audit of the hospital building (Photo: File)

By Vidya : The Bombay High Court has ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to “take such action as may be warranted by law” in response to a report falsified by the Indian Institute of Technology—Bombay (IIT-B) that recommended demolition of the Prince Aly Khan Hospital in Mumbai’s Mazgaon area.

The bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Gauri Godse passed this order on Thursday while hearing a petition filed by the hospital and its three trustees seeking direction from the BMC to take the necessary steps with respect to shutting down and demolishing the 70-year-old building, which is dilapidated.

The high court had asked the IIT-B two months ago to conduct a structural audit of the building and submit a report in a sealed envelope determining whether or not the structure is dilapidated and falls under the C1 category of dangerous and dilapidated buildings.

The report was submitted on December 13, and after reviewing it, the judges said that the report recommended demolition of the building. According to the report, the 70-year-old building is beyond any kind of repair.

On Thursday, the judges remarked that, in view of the report, the BMC is free to take action in accordance with the law. “Why do you need a high court order? You take whatever decision you want. It is up to you,” said Justice Jamdar.

The trustees of the hospital had approached the court, stating that when they had done structural audits on their own, they had found the building dilapidated. Following this, the hospital discharged all of its patients and decided to discontinue inpatient admissions and surgery.

The hospital management also informed the court that the civic body had reserved the land for a school, so the hospital employees expressed concern that if the hospital were demolished, it would be impossible to rebuild due to the reservation.

Advocate Rafique Dada, appearing on behalf of the hospital management, stated that due to this fear, some employees admitted patients into the dilapidated building, endangering the lives of patients and staff members. It was only for this reason that the management felt constrained to move the court.

On Thursday, Advocate Himanshu Kode, representing the employees’ union, stated that they wanted to submit certain facts about the building’s condition. However, the bench stated that the union has no position in the matter and that the civic body will take the necessary precautions.

Advocate Rafiq Dada, appearing for the hospital management, then said, “If an independent authority is saying it, the corporation must act on the report.” To this, Justice Jamdar responded: “We cannot issue a writ of mandamus to demolish a building. We can direct the corporation to take action in accordance with law.”

An advocate for the BMC then assured the court that the corporation would take the necessary action within two weeks.

“It is open to the Municipal Corporation to examine the relevant facts and the report and take such action as may be warranted in law and facts as regards the condition of the building and subsequent steps,” the bench said while dictating the order.

The court has clarified that it has only considered the issue of the building’s condition. The issue raised by the union on behalf of the employees was kept open. “Other prayers made in this petition, as well as the rights of the Petitioner and the interveners, are kept open,” the court added in its order.

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