Delhi govt moves SC to withdraw 7 cases filed during AAP rule challenging L-G's authority
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking to withdraw seven cases filed during the previous AAP regime challenging the authority of the lieutenant governor in several bodies, including one connected to Yamuna cleaning efforts.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh directed to list the application filed by the BJP-led Delhi government for Friday.
Appearing for Delhi government, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said the application seeks the withdrawal of seven cases pending in the top court, which challenged the authority of the lieutenant governor (L-G) in several committees, including solid waste management, Yamuna cleaning, and against the validity of Acts and ordinances.
"These matters should not trouble this court anymore," Bhati said.
Justice Surya Kant told Bhati, “We will list all these cases for Friday and take up the application."
In one of the cases filed by the then-AAP government, the top court in July 2023 stayed a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order asking the L-G to head a high-level committee constituted to deal with issues concerning the rejuvenation of the Yamuna river.
It agreed to hear the Delhi government's plea against a January 19, 2023, order of the NGT and issued a notice to the petitioner on whose application the tribunal passed the order.
The NGT constituted the high-level committee of authorities concerned in Delhi, where pollution of Yamuna was higher (about 75 per cent) when compared to the other river basin states.
“We request the lieutenant governor of Delhi, who is the chairman of DDA and the administrator of Delhi under Article 239 of the Constitution, to head the committee,” the NGT said.
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Fire erupts at private hospital in Mumbai; none hurt
Mumbai (PTI): A fire broke out at a private hospital in Mumbai's Grant Road area on Monday afternoon, prompting temporary evacuation of around 250 people, including patients, doctors and other staffers, officials said.
"No one was injured in the incident," a civic official said, adding the cause of the fire was not yet known.
The fire started in the CT-MRI scan unit of Bhatia Hospital at 1.35 pm, the official said.
As per the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), the blaze was confined to electrical wiring and installations in the CT-MRI unit of the private medical facility.
As a precautionary measure, around 250 people, including patients, doctors and other staffers, were temporarily evacuated from the hospital premises, he added.
The blaze was extinguished by 3 pm, the official stated.
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An MFB officer said at least eight fire engines, other vehicles and equipment were rushed to the spot to put out the blaze.
He told PTI that the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where newborn babies are kept in case they face breathing or any other health problems, was located exactly above the fire-affected CT-MRI unit.
The officer further said though the situation was tense, the hospital administration and MFB acted swiftly and ensured safety of babies, other patients as well as staff of the medical facility.
As per the officer, MFB personnel carefully used forced ventilation system fitted in their fire fighting vehicles to blow out the smoke from the CT-MRI unit to ensure babies being treated in the ward remain safe.
As a precautionary measure, the personnel did 'stage shifting ' or temporary transfer of babies from one ward to another to protect them from smoke or fire, he explained.
"If the smoke had increased, the children would have been affected. So, we simultaneously shifted them to another ward instead of acting at the last moment. We did their stage evacuation for safety reasons," the officer maintained.
Within 10-15 minutes of the outbreak, the MFB personnel controlled the fire and avoided further evacuation, he stated.
According to the officer, MFB suspects the fire was of "electric origin", but the exact cause was under investigation.
Notably, electric origin fires are caused on account of short circuit, overheating, overloading, use of non-standard appliances, illegal tapping of wires and improper wiring, among others.
