New Delhi: The Baby Care New Born Hospital in Delhi’s Vivek Vihar — where a fire accident Saturday night claimed the lives of six infants — and its owner, Dr Naveen Khichi, are not new to controversy.
Previous complaints include a 2021 case of criminal intimidation and cruelty to a child against Khichi and a nurse called Sumaiya at the hospital, and the non-registration of the nursing home under the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act.
A fire had started at the hospital late Saturday night. Officials said that the prima facie cause of the fire was an oxygen cylinder blast. Of the 12 newborns in the hospital, one had died before the fire broke out, while six others were declared dead on arrival at the East Delhi Advance NICU Hospital in Vivek Vihar. The Baby Care New Born Hospital, as ThePrint reported earlier, didn’t have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department.
Khichi has been booked by the Delhi Police under IPC sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 336 (any reckless or negligent action that puts human life in danger or threatens personal safety) and 34 (common intention).
Khichi is a paediatrician and the nursing home’s director, according to the hospital’s website. The Baby Care New Born hospital has four branches across NCR, including one in Gurugram and one in Faridabad.
Khichi is not the sole owner of all of the four branches. The hospital, according to the website, specialises in neonatology and paediatric treatment.
Previous cases against Khichi
Khichi was granted anticipatory bail in the 2021 case of criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a patient (a newborn), besides cruelty to a child (Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act).
According to the bail order seen by ThePrint, the case was lodged against both Khichi and a nurse, Sumaiya, by the parents of a newborn baby, alleging that the child was hurt while admitted at the hospital. The child’s left arm was said to be injured after the nurse allegedly beat the baby. Khichi was also accused of threatening the child’s father when confronted about the incident.
The same bail order also notes past allegations that the hospital was not registered under the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act, which the state had filed before the court in its status report.
While granting bail to Khichi in the 2021 case, the court had said, “Considering the fact that for non-registration of the Nursing Home, a complaint has been filed which, according to the learned counsel for the petitioner, has been disposed of after payment of fine, and that prima facie the observations noted in the treatment sheet by Dr. Naveen was a part of the regular treatment, hence this Court deems fit to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner.”
According to Rakesh Malhotra, who had represented Khichi in the 2021 case, a chargesheet was filed only against the nurse.
“A fine was paid in the non-registration of the hospital case,” Malhotra said, adding that he was unsure if the hospital was later registered.
Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act provides for the registration and inspection of nursing homes in the state of Delhi. A case had been registered in the Punjabi Bagh police station against Khichi.
Registration under the act is carried out by the nursing home cell of the Delhi Health Services. According to the Directorate General of Health Services website, for the process of registration, applications are invited and processed, and inspections are carried out to see if the nursing homes maintain the standards and norms in accordance with the rules under the act.
“Efforts are made to prevent the functioning of the nursing homes providing inferior quality and suggesting appropriate action against the unregistered nursing homes,” reads the website.
About the past complaints against Khichi, a senior police officer said, “We are checking all documents and past violations. Further investigation is on.”
(This is an updated copy.)
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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