DISTRICT MAGISTRATE, MALDA Vs. MALDA APOLLO NURSING HOME

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This intra-Court appeal by the District Magistrate is directed against the order dated 31 st August, 2023 in W.P.A. 29134 of 2022. By the impugned order, the learned Single Bench has granted an order of stay of the order passed by the Additional District Magistrate (General), Malda and District Key Manager, Swasthya Swathi, Malda primarily on the ground that the show- cause notice dtd. 21/11/2022 was dated subsequent to the decision of sealing and imposing penalty on the writ petitioners.

(2.) After elaborately hearing the learned advocates for the parties, we note that there is a slight factual discrepancy, which appears to have not been placed before the learned Single Bench. The decision taken and communicated by the Additional District Magistrate (General), Malda and District Key Manager, Swasthya Swathi, Malda under the scheme is dtd. 14/11/2022, wherein certain deficiencies have been pointed out, penalty has been imposed and the writ petitioners/nursing home were directed to be suspended from the scheme till they deposit the penal amount. Further, there is an observation that the nursing home is to be sealed.

(3.) The show-cause notice, which is also impugned in the writ petition is dtd. 21/11/2022, which has been issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Malda, who is the competent authority for granting the license to the hospital under the provisions of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Rules, 2017.