Mumbai: AIMIM MLA Imtiaz Jaleel has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court, seeking direction to the state government to allot seven acres of land to build a 200-bed hospital for women and children there. The court has directed the state and district administration to file a reply within six months.

Advocate Shailesh Brahme, on behalf of Jaleel, argued before a division bench of justice R.M. Borde and justice V.V. Kankanwadi that the government had sanctioned allotting a piece of land for the hospital for women and children nearly four years ago. As a MLA, Jaleel followed up on the matter by raising the issue in the Maharashtra assembly and also writing a number of letters to district authorities, asking for allotment of land. However, the government did not take any step in this regard and so Jaleel was left with no other option but to approach the court, seeking direction to the government to allot land for the hospital. The court was informed that the state on January 17, 2013, issued a notification sanctioning a 200-bed hospital for women and children, and land admeasuring seven acres was required for the hospital.

Later, a civil surgeon who was the nodal officer, wrote several times to the district collector and municipal commissioner to allot government land for the hospital. Despite this, district administration failed to find suitable land.