PIL Before Supreme Court Seeks National Fire Safety Framework For High-risk Public Premises

A PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking the framing within a time-bound period of a “National Minimum Fire and Life Safety Compliance, Audit, Disclosure and Accountability Framework” for high-risk public occupancy premises.

The said framework should cover, as per the petitioner and Advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, at minimum, schools, coaching centres, tuition centres, libraries used by students, hostels/PGs, hotels, guest houses, bed-and-breakfast establishments, restaurants, banquet halls, marriage halls, gaming/entertainment zones, malls, cinema halls, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics above a prescribed risk threshold and other high footfall commercial premises.

"From the Uphaar Cinema fire, the Kumbakonam school fire, the AMRI hospital fire, the Surat coaching-centre fire, the Anaj Mandi factory fire, the Rajkot game- zone fire, the Delhi coaching-centre basement tragedy, the Delhi Malviya Nagar guest-house/hotel fire, to the recent Lucknow coaching/training-centre fire, India has repeatedly buried its young, its sick and its unsuspecting citizens under the ashes of official negligence and private greed," Goswami has told the Supreme Court.

It is the petitioner's case that the constitutional injury is twofold. First, the State grants, renews or tolerates licences, registrations, occupancy permissions, trade licences and fire-safety certificates without a transparent, auditable and accountable mechanism. Secondly, when tragedy occurs, the response is episodic: a compensation announcement, an FIR, a committee, a few suspensions, and then the same municipal amnesia returns until the next smoke-filled staircase becomes a crematorium.

The plea has been filed in the backdrop of recent 2026 incidents in Delhi and Lucknow, coming after the 2019 Surat coaching-centre fire and the 2024 Delhi coaching-centre basement tragedy.

On June 3, 2026, a fire at a Delhi Malviya Nagar guest-house resulted in at least 21 deaths. Public reports state that a crackdown was ordered against guest houses and other establishments violating fire-safety norms and building by-laws. Also just a few days back on June 22, 2026, a fire at a commercial building housing a coaching/training centre in Lucknow's Aliganj area resulted in at least 15 deaths, mostly students/young persons, and injuries to others.

As per the PIL these incidents establish that students continue to be placed in hazardous spaces under the very nose of licensing and municipal authorities. A student seeking education should not have to choose between examination failure and death by smoke inhalation, the plea states.

"Despite the existence of standards, the pattern of fatalities shows that compliance is episodic. The country has standards on paper, but ashes on the ground. The law exists; enforcement is missing. Certificates exist; public verification is absent. Inspections occur; accountability evaporates," the plea argues.

It has been further argued that one of the gravest reasons for the recurring fire tragedies in the country is the absence of a uniform enforceable national minimum fire and life-safety framework for high-risk public occupancy premises.

"Fire services, building permissions, occupancy certificates, trade licences and local safety enforcement are presently governed by a fragmented combination of State Acts, Rules, municipal bye-laws, executive notifications, departmental circulars and local licensing conditions. The consequence is that the safety of citizens depends upon uneven State-wise enforcement, local discretion, administrative will and, in many cases, post-tragedy action rather than pre-tragedy prevention," court has been told.

The petitioner has thus sought a direction to States/UTs to file status affidavits giving district-wise data of high-risk premises: total number, number with valid fire NOC, number without fire NOC, number with expired fire NOC, number with occupancy/building-use certificate, number sealed/prosecuted, number granted time-bound rectification and number posing imminent risk.

A further direction is sought to all states and UTs to within 90/120 days, conduct a special fire and life safety audit of high-risk public occupancy premises in their jurisdiction, prioritising coaching hubs, schools, hostels/PGs, hotels/guest houses/B&Bs, restaurants/banquet halls, gaming zones, malls and hospitals.

As an interim prayer, it has been sought that within four weeks a consolidated note on existing national fire and life-safety standards, gaps and proposed interim measure be submitted before the Supreme Court.

Broadly the following directions have been sought:
(i) national high-risk occupancy classification;
(ii) time-bound fire and electrical audits;
(iii) public digital disclosure of fire NOCs, occupancy certificates and last audit reports;
(iv) prohibition on unsafe basement/terrace/temporary-structure use;
(v) QR-coded fire- safety certificates;
(vi) annual mock drills;
(vii) appointment of district nodal fire- safety officers;
(viii) accountability for false certificates and collusive inspections;
(ix) strict liability compensation where deaths/injuries occur in premises operating without mandatory clearances; and
(x) constitution of an expert committee for a National Minimum Fire and Life Safety Framework.

Case Title: NARENDRA KUMAR GOSWAMI vs. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.