The Bombay High Court asked Maharashtra government to decide on a proposal sent by Bai Jerbai Wadia Children’s Hospital, seeking its permission to set up a paediatric organ transplant centre, before March 16.
Hearing a petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice B P Colabawala said “if the government does not decide on the application by then (March 16), the Principal Secretary of the Department of Medical Education and Research will have to personally be present in court”.
The hospital had sent a proposal to the state government on July 31, 2014, saying that if the transplant centre was approved it would be one of its kind in the world.
However, the state government is yet to take any decision on the application.
The hospital filed an affidavit informing the court that work on repairing, reconstructing and maintaining the hospital building has begun and would be completed by March 31, 2016 and Rs. 27.9 crore has been earmarked for repairs.
The hospital received several awards and once the new building is ready it would be able to house 150 beds in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and 24 beds in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, the affidavit said.
The hospital, located in Parel here, has been operating from its neighbouring premises since 2009, after it was closed down for renovation.
Kamayani Mahabal, an activist, had moved the High Court alleging that no steps had been taken by the authorities to take up the renovation and complete it at the earliest.
The municipal corporation and Wadia Trust have reached an agreement to take equal financial responsibility to run the hospital.
