Delhi High Court Flags Regulatory Failures at Saroj Hospital | Impact
Delhi High Court flags serious regulatory lapses at Saroj Hospital after Delhi Nursing Council disclosures on unregistered nurses in a case related to a patient’s death.
Delhi High Court Intervention Puts Saroj Hospital and Nursing Regulation Under the Lens
On February 3, 2026, the Delhi High Court once again turned its attention to a case that has lingered for nearly eight years, raising uncomfortable questions about medical oversight, regulatory enforcement and patient safety in the national capital. At the centre of the proceedings is Saroj Super Speciality Hospital, where Gargi Meena died in March 2018 after being admitted for what her family describes as mild menstrual pain.
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The court’s latest order acknowledges the seriousness of the grievance raised by Gargi’s husband, Uttam Chand Meena, and directs the Delhi Nursing Council to complete a thorough examination of records and issue an order within six months. Yet the findings already placed before the Delhi High Court have exposed gaps that extend far beyond one family’s loss or one hospital’s practices.
This is a story that has unfolded slowly—through courtrooms, regulatory offices and painstaking scrutiny of official records. It is also a story shaped by sustained public-interest reporting that has kept attention on a case many believed had been quietly buried.
From a routine hospital visit to a death inside Saroj Hospital
On March 29, 2018, Gargi Meena walked into Saroj Hospital in Delhi. According to her family, she was experiencing mild abdominal pain associated with menstruation—discomfort they believed could be treated with medication. Within hours of her admission, doctors at Saroj Hospital recommended surgery, warning the family that failure to act could prove fatal.
Two days later, on March 31, 2018, Gargi Meena was declared dead.
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Uttam Chand Meena, her husband, has consistently alleged that the care provided inside Saroj Hospital amounted to gross medical negligence. He has described a series of decisions that, in his account, were made under pressure and fear.
“When they called me for consent, I was told she would die if the surgery was not done,” Meena recalled in an earlier interview. “If the head of the department is telling you that the patient is dying, who am I to say no to the surgery?”
Inside the operation theatre and the ICU
According to Meena, Gargi entered the operation theatre smiling. “She was absolutely fine,” he said. “She was joyful. How could anyone say she would bleed to death in a few hours?”
Gargi Meena in Saroj Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi | Photo Courtesy: Family
After surgery, he alleges, her pain intensified. He described confusion over basic post-operative care and a lack of clear communication from hospital staff. By the following morning, he was informed that Gargi’s blood sugar levels had spiked dangerously and that she was being moved to the intensive care unit.
“At around 11 am, they took another high-risk consent,” Meena said. “I was helpless.”
Later that evening, he claims, the hospital raised concerns about payment and demanded medicines before continuing treatment, despite his eligibility for cashless government medical facilities.
In the early hours of March 31, Gargi was placed on a ventilator. At 4.12 am, Saroj Hospital declared her dead.
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The slow turn to records, RTI replies and the Delhi High Court
For several years after Gargi’s death, the case moved haltingly through complaints, representations and appeals. A critical shift came when Meena began filing applications under the Right to Information Act, seeking details about the staff employed at Saroj Hospital at the time of his wife’s admission.
What emerged from those RTI replies would eventually bring the Delhi High Court back into the picture.
Documents suggested that many nurses working at Saroj Hospital in March 2018 may not have been registered with the Delhi Nursing Council, a statutory requirement under the Delhi Nursing Council Act.
Armed with these findings, Meena approached the Delhi High Court, seeking accountability not only from the hospital but also from regulators tasked with ensuring compliance.
The court directed the Delhi Nursing Council to examine the hospital’s records and determine how many nurses employed at the time of Gargi Meena’s admission to Saroj Hospital were registered in accordance with the law.
What the Delhi Nursing Council told the court
In its submission to the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Nursing Council reported that of 245 nurses working at Saroj Hospital during Gargi Meena’s admission and death, only 113 were registered with the council.
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The figures were stark. According to the council, 132 nurses were not registered with the Delhi Nursing Council at that time. More troubling still, 24 nurses were found to be unregistered not only with the Delhi Nursing Council but with any state nursing council in India.
The implications of these finding were difficult to ignore. Nurses, unlike doctors, often provide round-the-clock patient care—administering medication, monitoring vitals and responding to emergencies.
Delhi Nursing Council report | Courtesy: Special arrangement
“When you remove the few minutes a doctor spends with a patient, the remaining 23+ hours are with the nurse,” Meena said. “If that nurse is unqualified or unregistered, what happens to the patient?”
The law, the gaps and the unanswered questions
Prashant Vaxish, counsel for Uttam Chand Meena, told The Probe that the law is unambiguous. “Section 17 of the Delhi Nursing Council Act mandates that every individual practising nursing within Delhi must be registered with the Delhi Nursing Council,” Vaxish said. “There is no exception to this.”
He also pointed to the role of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), which oversees hospital licensing under the Nursing Homes Registration Act.
“At the time of licence renewal, hospitals are required to submit a list of registered nurses to the DGHS,” Vaxish said. “The question is how these records were examined if such large-scale non-registration went unnoticed.”
Vaxish told The Probe that the Delhi Nursing Council had written to the DGHS several years earlier, urging action against Saroj Hospital, including suspension of its licence. “Till date, not even a show-cause notice was issued,” he said.
“The reality,” he added, “is that laws are being kept only in the books while citizens suffer.”
The Delhi High Court’s February 2026 order
On February 3, 2026, the Delhi High Court held that Uttam Chand Meena’s grievance was genuine and could not be brushed aside. The court directed the Delhi Nursing Council to conduct a comprehensive examination of records and pass an order within six months.
The court’s language was measured but firm, signalling that earlier approaches—relying largely on documents submitted by the hospital—were insufficient.
This was not the first time the Delhi High Court had intervened in the case. In 2021, it had ordered physical verification of records as they stood on March 31, 2018. In 2023, dissatisfied with the work of Delhi Nursing Council, the court stepped in again, seeking greater clarity.
The February 2026 order marks yet another chapter in the court’s prolonged engagement with the case.
A pattern revealed through sustained reporting
The renewed judicial scrutiny did not emerge in isolation. Over the past two years, a series of investigative reports examined Gargi Meena’s death, the conduct of Saroj Hospital, and the role of regulators tasked with oversight.
From the first detailed investigation published in June 2024 to subsequent regulatory action, The Probe's reporting traced how warnings were issued, ignored or inadequately addressed.
In August 2024, the National Medical Commission took disciplinary action against doctors involved in Gargi’s treatment. The gynaecologist, Dr Nisha Jain, was suspended for three months. The anaesthetist received a warning, while the physician was advised to exercise caution.
Meena has maintained that these actions do not reflect the gravity of what occurred. His petition seeking stricter punishment remains pending before the Delhi High Court.
Nursing regulation and the larger public interest
Beyond individual accountability, the case of the Saroj Hospital has drawn attention to the structure—and weaknesses—of nursing regulation in Delhi.
Vaxish told the court that allowing nurses registered in other states to practise without proper transfer or verification undermines the purpose of state nursing councils. “If someone is registered in another state and that registration is withdrawn or under question, they can simply move and practise elsewhere,” he said. “That is precisely why the Delhi Nursing Council exists.”
