The Kerala High Court has turned its gaze towards the crumbling foundations of government healthcare—both literally and legally—after a building at Kottayam Medical College collapsed, killing a woman and injuring three others. Though unimpressed with the “sloppy” drafting of the PIL filed in the wake of the tragedy, the Court refused to let the matter slide, recognizing the rot may go deeper than bricks and concrete.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji didn’t mince words. The petition, filed by a group of human rights activists, was called out as careless and lacking even a basic statutory anchor. “These are court petitions, not pamphlets,” CJ Jamdar remarked, clearly irked. “Don’t just rush to courts after reading the news. Do your research.”
Despite the initial rebuke, the Court chose to press ahead, treating the public interest litigation as too important to dismiss. The collapse, which occurred at an old bathroom block of the Orthopaedics ward, sparked broader questions about the condition and regulation of government-run hospitals across Kerala.
Since the petition failed to raise the right legal levers, the Court took the reins and framed its own pointed questions for the State to answer. Among them:
- Have rules been framed under Sections 36, 41(1), and 4(1)(e) read with 52(2)(c) of the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2018?
- Is the State Council constituted as per statutory norms under Section 3?
- Is the existing grievance redressal committee—made up of three private individuals—lawfully formed?
- How many inspections have State authorities conducted in the last two years?
- Has mandatory hospital data been uploaded on the official portal under Section 41?
- What minimum standards have been prescribed under Section 13 for different categories of clinical establishments?
The State, for its part, confirmed that government hospitals and medical colleges are indeed covered under the Act. It promised to place relevant rules and standards on record soon.
The Court also directed the petitioners to get their house in order—asking them to amend their PIL, properly implead the relevant State authorities, and add the Health and Family Welfare Department as well as the Kerala State Council for Clinical Establishments.
What began as a poorly stitched plea may now open the floodgates on systemic lapses in hospital infrastructure oversight. One death triggered the petition—but the questions raised might expose a much bigger collapse in governance.
