Mumbai: A city civil court has ordered the Paraplegic Foundation to vacate its premises in the old barracks of Sion Hospital so that it can be used for the construction of a hostel to accommodate staff and officers of the medical institution.
While passing the order, the court said that the foundation was stalling a Rs600 crore project to redevelop Sion, and trying to usurp public property. The foundation has until September 30 to vacate the 14,000 square foot property.
Principal Judge A Subramaniam was hearing an appeal filed by the Paraplegic Foundation through its administrative officer, Dr Bhagyesh Vasant Lad, against the order of the BMC and the dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, passed on June 12, asking it to vacate the premises that it is holding.
Rejecting the appeal, the court observed that the trust, which claims to be working for paraplegic persons, is not registered under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Hence, the court said, it cannot carry out any activities.
The court checked the records of the foundation and said that, between 1990 and 2022, it had handled only 820 patients. From 2020 onwards, there was not a single patient entry, it said.
“From 2020 the activity of the trust has stopped. For the year 2020, only seven patients are seen. For the year 2019, only 13 patients are seen,” the court noted, adding that the hospital had stopped referring patients to the foundation in 2018 as it had made alternate facilities.
The foundation claimed that the premises were given to it in 1968. Since then it has been looking after patients from time to time, in co-ordination with the hospital, it said. The court, however, rejected this claim.
“It is an admitted fact and part of record and common knowledge that there is a severe space crunch for patients in public hospitals... the foundation does not face any hardship. Even if it ceases to exist it will make no difference to paraplegics. Practically it has ceased to exist, except on paper,” the court said.
“The foundation was brought to assist and then came into occupation... it’s like the story of the camel and the tent: Give it an inch and it will take a foot.”
