The Delhi High Court underscored on Wednesday that in a welfare State, it is the bounden duty of the government to provide adequate shelter to the homeless as well as those awaiting treatment in hospitals, as it directed authorities in the capital to provide adequate night shelter to meet the current exigency caused by cold-wave conditions. It said the authorities are not allowed to deny such a facility, especially to those visiting hospitals, due to paucity of funds or any other resources. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the order on a suo-motu (on its own) petition initiated by the court after taking cognisance of a news report on the "pitiable condition" of patients and their kin staying on the streets while awaiting treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here. Taking note of the situation outside hospitals like the AIIMS, RML and Safdarjung Trauma Centre, the court directed the DUSIB to take over the subways near such facilities and provide as many beds as possible by Wednesday evening itself, and also erect night shelters in any other space available near hospitals.
It further directed that a meeting of high-ranking officials of stakeholders, including the DUSIB, MCD, DMRC, AIIMS, RML Hospital, Lady Hardinge, Safdarjung Trauma Centre and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, shall be called at 10 am on Thursday under the chairmanship of the principal district judge, south, to chalk out a "short-term" plan to deal with the current weather and implement it on the same day. "Ours is a social welfare State and the right to adequate shelter, if denied to the citizenry, will amount to a violation of fundamental rights as enshrined in part 3 of the Constitution of India. In this view, it becomes the bounden duty of the government and agencies to ensure that the people who are homeless and are in search of better medical care for themselves or kin are provided shelter," the court said.
"The State and its agencies, such as hospitals, development authorities or municipal corporations, cannot shrink away from responsibility and duty to provide adequate shelter at least to those who are visiting hospitals, not willingly but under compelling circumstances in search of better medical care. No refuge can be permitted to be taken by the State and its agencies for denying such facilities due to paucity of funds or any other resources," it added. The court asked all land-owning agencies to cooperate with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and cautioned that erring officers would be held accountable. The court listed the matter for further hearing on January 16 and sought a report from the authorities on the measures adopted by each of them.
The bench asked senior advocate Avi Singh, appearing in the matter for an intervenor, to give "comprehensive suggestions" to deal with the situation in the "long term". During the hearing, the DUSIB's counsel said the city has more than 300 night shelters with a total capacity of around 19,000 people. "In a city of more than two crore population, 19,000 will suffice?" the court asked. The lawyer said not all shelters have full capacity and it is the "hot spots" like hospitals and commercial centres where the demand is high. On January 12, the court took suo-motu cognisance of the news report on the "pitiable condition" of patients and their kin staying on the streets. A division bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla said the issue called for "urgent executive and judicial intervention".