Bhubaneswar: The Khurda additional district and session court Thursday reserved its order on the bail plea of SUM Hospital owner Manoj Nayak, the prime accused in the October 17 fire mishap which claimed 26 lives.
The court heard Nayak’s bail plea after Commissionerate Police filed a 200-page case diary against him which included documents alleging negligence, statement of 19 witnesses and autopsy report of 5 people who died following the blaze.
The defence lawyer pleaded for bail arguing Nayak was not the hospital owner. He claimed Nayak was just the founder and had no interference in the management of the health centre. The medical institute was running as per guidelines and its management was looking after the day-to-day affairs while Nayak’s was just a trustee as the hospital was building on his land, the lawyer claimed. He also said that Nayak was suffering from diabetes, asthma and blood pressure, and needed proper medical attention.
Dubbing the defence lawyer’s arguments as ‘sentimental’, the public prosecutor said, “The hospital did not have adequate fire safety arrangements. There should be a water tank of 25000 litres as per the fire department norms but there was no water in it. The fire brigade brought water from outside leading to wastage of time. There was no sprinkler or fire alarm system.” The prosecution also claimed that Nayak’ was the hospital’s chief till 2009 and asked why he did not ensure that all guidelines were followed.
Nayak’s wife, sister summoned
Commissionerate Police Thursday summoned Saswati Das and Arati Ranjana Nayak (wife and sister of SUM Hospital founder Manoj Nayak) along with two other trustees of SOA charitable trust. They have been asked to appear before police within a week for interrogation into the SUM Hospital fire tragedy.
Their statements will be recorded under section 160 of CrPC. Manoj’s wife and sister had moved the High Court Wednesday seeking anticipatory bail to avoid possible arrest. Earlier, the Khandagiri Police had asked Saswati, Arati and two other trustees to cooperate in the investigation but they did not cooperate.
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