Ahmedabad COVID-19 hospital fire leaves 8 patients dead
Ahmedabad: A blaze in the wee hours at a private hospital here has left eight COVID-19 patients dead, a fire brigade official said on Thursday.
The victims include five men and three women, who were being treated at the ICU ward of the COVID-19 designated Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura area of Ahmedabad, the official said.
Fire broke out around 3.30 am on the fourth floor of the four-storey hospital, he said. Around 40 other COVID-19 patients at the facility were rescued and shifted to a civic hospital in the city, he said.
"Eight coronavirus patients admitted in the ICU ward of Shrey Hospital have died due to the fire, which has been doused," said an official of the Ahmedabad Fire Department.
Primary investigations revealed that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit, police said.
"Forensic experts have arrived at the site for a detailed investigation," said Assistant Commissioner of Police L B Zala.
Shrey Hospital is among the around 60 private hospitals designated as COVID-19 hospitals by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
Municipal Commissioner Mukesh Kumar, who reached the spot soon after the fire broke out, said an electric short circuit led to the blaze, which spread in the ICU ward within minutes.
Principal Health Secretary Jayanti Ravi also reached the spot and assured a thorough probe into the incident. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
In a statement, the CMO saidthe probe will be conducted by two IAS officers, Additional Chief Secretary in Home Department Sangeeta Singh and ACS in Urban Development Department Mukesh Puri.
They have been asked to submit a report in three days, the statement said.
With 1,073 new coronavirus positive cases, Gujarat's COVID-19 tally reached 66,777 on Wednesday. The number of deceased has gone up to 2,557, an official said.
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Allahabad HC sets aside maintenance order in favour of earning wife, says she didn't tell truth
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has set aside a lower court order mandating a man to pay maintenance to his estranged wife, observing that she earns her living and did not reveal the true salary in her affidavit.
Justice Madan Pal Singh also allowed a criminal revision petition filed by the man, Ankit Saha.
"A perusal of the impugned judgment indicates that in the affidavit filed before the trial court, the opposite party herself admitted that she is a post-graduate and a web designer by qualification. She is working as a senior sales coordinator in a company and getting a salary of Rs 34,000 per month," the court said in the December 3 order.
"But in her cross-examination, she has admitted that she was earning Rs 36,000 per month. Such an amount for a wife who has no other liability cannot be said to be meagre; whereas the man has the responsibility of maintaining his aged parents and other social obligations," it observed.
The high court observed that the woman was not entitled to get any maintenance from her husband "as she is an earning lady and able to maintain herself".
The man's counsel argued in court that the estranged wife did not reveal the whole truth in the affidavit.
"She claimed herself to be an illiterate and unemployed woman. When the document filed by the man was shown to her before the trial court, she admitted her income during cross-examination. Thus, it is clear that she did not come before the trial court with clean hands," the counsel submitted.
The court, in its order, said, "Cases of those litigants who have no regard for the truth and those who indulge in suppressing material facts need to be thrown out of the court."
It impugned the lower court's February 17 judgment and order, passed by the principal judge of a family court in Gautam Buddh Nagar and allowed the criminal revision petition filed by the man.
