On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court ordered urgent, on-ground measures to protect homeless persons and patient’s attendants from the ongoing cold wave, directing civic authorities to immediately convert subways near major hospitals into night shelters and erect temporary structures, after finding that the ground situation sharply contradicted official claims.
The directions came in a suo motu public interest matter triggered by reports and photographs showing patients and their families sleeping in the open outside government hospitals due to lack of shelter facilities. The Court was apprised that despite the existence of night shelters, people visiting Delhi for medical treatment, often under compulsion, were left exposed to extreme cold.
Visual material placed before the Bench, including photographs taken by officials and civil society representatives, revealed severe gaps in infrastructure near hospitals, prompting the Court to question the adequacy of the existing response by civic bodies and land-owning agencies.
Holding that denial of shelter directly implicates fundamental rights, the Bench made it clear that State agencies cannot avoid responsibility on logistical or financial grounds. The Court directed that subways near hospitals be taken over immediately and used as night shelters, and that tents or pandals be erected without delay to accommodate patients and their attendants.
Warning of accountability for non-compliance, the Court observed, “The State and its agencies… cannot shirk away from the responsibility and duty to provide adequate shelter… No refuge can be permitted to be taken by the State and its agencies for denying such facilities due to paucity of funds or any other resources.”
The Court further ordered a high-level meeting of all stakeholders to prepare a short-term action plan, with the final call resting with the Principal District Judge, and sought a compliance report before the next hearing, which is scheduled for 16th January.
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