HC slams govt over delay in action in Asha Kiran case: ‘Can’t let more lives be lost’

The Delhi high court on Tuesday reprimanded the Delhi government’s finance department for its delay in processing the administrative approval regarding takeover of a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) building, to shift the inmates of Asha Kiran shelter home where 14 people died in July this year.

“Urgency has not been impressed upon you. Fourteen people have lost their lives. We can’t let more human lives be lost,” a bench of chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela said to Dr Ashish Verma, additional chief secretary, finance, who had joined the proceedings virtually.

The court expressed dissatisfaction after perusing a status report filed by the Delhi government, which stated that the department of social welfare had moved a proposal seeking administrative approval and allocation of funds for the purpose to the finance department on September 9, but the same was still awaited.

Justifying the delay, Verma submitted that the finance department upon consideration of the proposal had sought certain clarifications from MCD and the civic body had given the answers on Tuesday itself. He, however, assured that the proposal shall be processed expeditiously.

However, the court took a dim view of the delay, saying that it could not understand as to why the department took three months in seeking the clarification.

“It is not understood as to why the finance department could not summon the official from MCD and seek clarification in the last three months,” the bench said.

The court was responding to a plea filed by Samadhan Abhiyan, a NGO, seeking constitution of an independent committee headed by a retired high court judge for conducting a court monitored probe into the deaths or a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The petition had also sought for directing the Delhi government to conduct a social security audit of all the shelter homes run by it to put out an actual and correct picture of the social impact and the living conditions. The petition filed by advocates Abhigyan Siddhant and Anurag Sahay stated that the inquiry which the Delhi government has ordered to be conducted by its additional chief secretary cannot be said to be impartial as the government is in direct control of the shelter home as well as DJB. The plea went on to add that the Delhi government is trying to be a judge in its own cause, which cannot be allowed.

On August 12, the high court directed the MCD commissioner to hand over one of its buildings of Nursing college and Hostel to Delhi government’s social welfare department to shift the inmates of Rohini-based Asha Kiran shelter home for the intellectually challenged, stressing on the urgent need to decongest the centre as it accommodated 928 inmates against the capacity of 570.

The negligent conditions at the Asha Kiran shelter home emerged in media reports in July this year, throwing authorities into a tizzy and triggering probes. The Delhi government ordered a magisterial inquiry into the case, while lieutenant governor VK Saxena directed chief secretary Naresh Kumar to initiate action against the administrator of the facility and bring out a white paper on the running of all homes by the social welfare, and women and child departments and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, within three weeks. According to the report submitted by the social welfare secretary to the LG on August 2, 28 inmates lost their lives at the shelter home, since January 2024. Of the 14 who died in July allegedly due to health issues and malnutrition arising out of poor living conditions, 13 were adults and one was a minor.