No unauthorised construction by MIOT
The allegation that 75 persons died was stated to be purely imaginary, the court said.
Chennai: In a major relief to MIOT International Hospital, the Madras high court has said the counter affidavits filed by authorities makes it abundantly clear that all requisite permission for construction has been taken by the hospital and the building is in conformity with no violations, and thus, the allegations of the petitioner are based on ‘surmises and conjectures’.
Disposing of a PIL filed by social activist 'Traffic’ Ramaswamy, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M. M. Sundresh said, “We may note that there has been no encroachment found even qua the car park”. The bench said the most crucial affidavit was that of CMDA. The affidavit shows that the first planning permission was granted on September 14, 1995. Completion certificates have been issued on October 13, 2011 and May 28, 2012. It was also averred that PWD on July 1, 2009 had permitted construction of a culvert with covered top across Ramapuram Drain Crossing at Ramapuram on payment of annual track rent of '1.18 lakh subject to certain conditions. The site was inspected on January 6, 2016 and it was ascertained there was no additional structure constructed with reference to the earlier approved plan, the Bench added.
Terming incorrect the allegation of Ramaswamy that 75 persons may have died, the bench said the affidavit filed by police authorities stated that cases had been registered under IPC provisions. Post mortem had been conducted on 14 bodies of patients in government hospitals.
The patients were stated to be in Critical Care Unit of the Hospital. Five more persons died during the same period and those dead bodies were handed over to relatives. Thus, the allegation that 75 persons died was stated to be purely imaginary, the court said. The court said investigation was stated to be still on to find out if any criminal negligence tantamounting to culpable homicide was made out.