SC gives marching orders to nursing homes

The Supreme Court on Monday virtually drew curtains for more than 1,000 clinics and nursing homes operating from residential buildings in Mumbai. It put a virtually impossible condition to them construct an independent stairway or lift for the clinic or nursing home within six months after obtaining permission from the civic body or move out. This means these clinics and nursing homes have six months to do the needful or move out. The apex court endorsed the Bombay HC's view that stairways or lifts meant for people living in residential buildings could not be used by patients and relatives visiting the clinics daily. Upholding the HC order, a Bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and P Sathasivam said the large number of patients and relatives coming to these clinics, nursing homes and surgical units every day could not be permitted to use the common stairway or lifts meant for residents and, in the process, cause discomfort to them and disturb their right to live peacefully. Disposing of an appeal filed by Association of Medical Consultants (Mumbai), claiming to have over 6,000 doctors and 1,500 nursing homes as its members, the Bench said making an exception for a single nursing home, even if it had genuine difficulty, could open a Pandora's box. Appearing for the petitioner association, senior advocates Harish Salve and Ashok Desai said that given the paucity of commercial premises and the exorbitant rent and cost of land, it was well-nigh impossible for these small clinics and nursing homes to find alternative space. The counsel expressed apprehension that closure of these mini-health facilities could lead to collapse of healthcare system in Mumbai, where there was a severe shortage of hospital beds given its burgeoning population. But the Bench countered it saying public interest needed to be balanced. "We are conscious of the problem raised by the counsel. We are not saying that these clinics and nursing homes are to be treated as outcastes. But when residents have purchased the flats with so much money, they have a right to some privacy," it said. The case in hand related to purchase of two flats in Dadar Avanti Cooperative Housing Society Limited at Senapati Bapat Marg in Dadar, Mumbai, in 1979 by two doctors who converted them into a mini-surgical unit. However, in 1984, the government changed the building user description from commercial to residential. The doctors moved for change of user tag from residential to commercial and the authority, after first declining, accorded permission. The society moved the HC in 1994. A single judge Bench of the HC finally dismissed the society's petition in 2003. However, a division Bench of the HC allowed the appeal filed by the society and set aside the single judge's order.

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