Many media reports on Wednesday said that the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Anil Baijal, had revoked the Arvind Kejriwal government’s order cancelling the licence of Max hospital.

However, moments later the office of LG clarified that it had no role in reversing the Kejriwal government’s order. Its statement read, “It is to inform that the matter w.r.t [with respect to] Max Hospital license is not before the Hon’ble LG. It is before the Court of Financial Commissioner. It is also clarified that no Max officials have met the Hon’ble LG or any officer of Raj Niwas.”

The confusion may have arisen due to the definition of the role of the office of Financial Commissioner. Its website states that “The Financial Commissioner if the statutory post and the incumbent of this post exercises the powers of the Lt. Governor/Chief Commissioner, delegated under various statutes.”

Aam Aadmi Party’s Dilip Pandey slammed the decision adding that the LG must answer whether he was answerable to ‘negligent hospitals’ or the ordinary public.

He said, “The entire country had welcomed the decision to cancel Max Hospital’s licence. But the LG has stayed that. The question is; who are these people who time and again come to the rescue mafia against the interests of common people.”

BJP’s Delhi unit’s president, Manoh Tiwari took a dig at the Delhi government for blaming the LG’s office instead of the Office of Financial Commissioner, which he said functioned under the control of Delhi’s deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia.

He tweeted, “What we feared came true. But I am not surprised because this is the true face of the Kejriwal government. Manish Sisodia’s financial commissioner has reinstated the Max Hospital. The question is; how much was the deal worth Mr Kejriwal? This is what you call ‘selling your conscience.'”

Delhi government on 8 December had cancelled the licence of Max Hospital in Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh after it wrongly declared a new born baby dead.

The preliminary report submitted by the three-member panel had found several lapses by the hospital, which had not followed the medical norms. The report, prepared after scrutinising hospital records and meeting relevant staff, found the hospital, located in Shalimar Bagh, guilty of not having followed prescribed medical norms in dealing with newborn babies.

Delhi’s health minister, Satyender Jain had said that the decision to cancel the hospital’s licence was taken after the final report was submitted by the three-member panel adding that the hospital in question was habitual offender.