The recurring violation of fire safety norms remains a disturbing feature that the Delhi High Court has repeatedly brought to attention. Months before a devastating fire at a bed and breakfast on Wednesday, the court had directed city authorities to urgently address inadequate fire safety measures in hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality establishments across the capital. What is painfully familiar is the apathy, as authorities are yet to comply with the court's January 7 order, which required them to formulate an action plan to strengthen safety standards.
Court's January 7 Order and Subsequent Inaction
The high court had asked the Delhi government, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to treat a public interest litigation (PIL) by lawyer Arpit Bhargava as a representation and take an appropriate decision. On Wednesday, Bhargava stated that he had sent repeated reminders to the Delhi chief secretary, MCD commissioner, and NDMC chairperson to comply with the order, but to no avail. He filed the PIL after 25 people were killed in a nightclub blaze in Goa on December 6, 2025. He alleged that several establishments in Delhi rampantly violated fire safety rules.
Previous Incidents and Court Actions
Over the past few years, the court has taken a strong view on fire safety violations and demanded accountability. In August last year, the court cleared the decks for prosecution of the owners of a building in Sadar Bazar's Anaj Mandi where a devastating fire in December 2019 claimed 45 lives, most of them migrant labourers. In a strongly-worded order, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma upheld the framing of charges against Mohd Imran, noting his active participation in maintaining and profiting from an unauthorised, dangerously constructed premises, despite earlier warnings and a prior fire incident. The court highlighted that the building had elements of unauthorised construction, lacked mandatory fire safety clearances, proper ventilation, or any emergency exit provisions.
Around the same time, another high court bench took note of the tragic fire at Vishal Mega Mart in Delhi's Karol Bagh that claimed two lives. An NGO, Kutumb, sought a court-monitored investigation into alleged lapses and flagged serious violations of fire safety regulations. The NGO requested a court-monitored probe into the conduct of MCD, fire services, and Delhi Police for alleged regulatory failures. The matter is listed for July.
Hospital Fire and Factory Blaze
A fire in the neonatal unit of Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar in 2024 forced the high court to direct the Delhi government to treat as a representation a PIL that sought basic fire safety norms, including the installation of sprinklers, for small hospitals and nursing homes. The blaze killed seven newborns. The PIL was filed by Yugansh Mittal. The court disposed of the matter while asking authorities to ensure compliance with fire safety norms under the Delhi Fire Service Rules, 2010.
In 2018, a massive fire in a factory in Malviya Nagar led the high court to pass orders that should set a precedent. The court asked the owner of a rubber factory to pay Rs 25 lakh to cover the cost of dousing the blaze. The court took this step after learning that the entire operation to control the raging fire, which lasted several hours, cost over Rs 30 lakh, with the Indian Air Force also incurring expenditure for deploying a helicopter.
