NEW DELHI: Delhi police have filed a detailed 796-page chargesheet in the East Delhi childcare hospital fire case which snuffed out the lives of seven newborn babies.
According to official sources, the chargesheet was filed before Delhi's Karkardooma Court on Monday in which the cops charged two doctors under sections 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The accused are Dr Naveen Khichi (owner of the nursing home) and Dr Akash, the BAMS doctor on duty during the incident, who was in charge of the neonatal intensive care unit for that particular night.
The seven babies were killed in a massive hospital fire in the Shahdara area on May 26, prompting multiple agencies to investigate the incident.
Initially, the case was registered under sections 236 and 304A of the IPC, but subsequently based on the evidence on record, sections 304 and 308 of the IPC along with section 75 of the JJ Act was invoked.
The police completed its investigation within 60 days during which testimonies of 81 witnesses were recorded and included in the chargesheet.
Police sources told The New Indian Express that from the investigation conducted so far and relying on the statements of witnesses recorded under section 161 CrPC, sufficient evidence has come on record against Dr Naveen Khichi and Dr Akash for the deaths of the seven infants.
"They (accused) knowingly ran the hospital with beds beyond what is permissible and without qualified nurses and fire safety devices," the source said.