Delhi High Court
The High Court has ordered that another investigating agency, other than the police of Chittaranjan Park police station, conduct the investigation into the death of an elderly woman in the Greater Kailash Care Home fire.
The petitioners were instructed to include the Antara Care Home for the Elderly in the case as Justice Jasmeet Singh postponed the hearing until April 20, 2023.
The petitioner claims, “The station’s police are unwilling to include the fire department in their investigation into why the NOC was granted to the care home”. He has requested that the matter be investigated by another agency under the supervision of a senior officer.
Kanchan Arora, 86, was charred to death after a fire broke out on January 1, 2023, at a private care home for the elderly in Delhi’s posh Greater Kailash 2 neighborhood. In this regard, her relatives have filed a petition and requested an investigation.
The Court also recorded the petitioners’ explanation for why the No Objection Certificate (NOC) was granted to Antara Assisted Care Services Limited’s care home.
Police had filed an FIR under IPC sections 304A (negligently causing death), 285 (negligent act in relation to negligence), and 337. (causing hurt by act likely to endanger life or personal safety of others).
The petitioners filed a complaint against the State and the Delhi Police Commissioner, claiming that the FIR was not being investigated in accordance with the law. She claimed that her mother died as a result of a lack of fire safety standards and the absence of carers at the time of the incident.
