SC lawyer urges CJI to order time-bound probe into Jhansi Medical College fire

Supreme Court advocate Amit Dwivedi has written to the chief justice of India, seeking a time-bound inquiry into a deadly fire in the neonatal intensive care unit of a medical college in Uttar Pradesh which has so far taken the lives of 17 infants.

In the letter to CJI Sanjiv Khanna on 25 November, Dwivedi — who is 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 the devastating fire in the NICU of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi on the night of 15 November. 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.

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, and urged the CJI 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 at around 10.45 pm, possibly due to a short circuit.