Calcutta, March 19: Sixteen accused directors and officials of AMRI Hospitals, Dhakuria, will be charged under Section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) for a fire that left 92 people dead in December 2011, an Alipore court said today.

The charge carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and/or fine since the accused had the knowledge that their act was likely to cause death but did not have the intention to cause death.

The same charge can fetch life imprisonment if there is intention to cause death.

The judge will formally pronounce the charges on April 16 when all the accused will have to be present in court.

Ninety-two people had died after a fire broke out in the Annexe 1 of AMRI Hospitals, Dhakuria, in December 2011.

The allegations against the hospital ranged from stocking inflammable articles in the car parking area in the basement to not switching off the AC vents, which resulted in smoke spreading to the upper floors, and preventing family members of patients from bringing them down even after the fire had broken out.

In the charge sheet, submitted in March 2012, police had charged the accused under Section 304 of the IPC.

But lawyers of the accused have maintained, during the hearings over the past four years, that they can be charged only under Section 304A of the IPC - death by negligence - that carries a maximum punishment of two years in jail.

The significance of today's order lies in the fact that the court agreed with the prosecution that the accused will be charged under Section 304 of the IPC, a lawyer said.

"This is the first step. We have a long way to go," said Paromita Guha Thakurta, who had lost her mother in the fire. "Let's see when the trial begins."

Guha Thakurta had filed a petition last August, seeking an order for setting up of a "dedicated" bench to fast-track the case, which had failed to reach the trial stage even in four years.

In January this year, the high court announced that it would monitor the hearing of the AMRI fire case and directed the trial court to make every effort so that charges could be framed by the end of February.

During the second half of February, the arguments were heard almost every day to comply with the high court directive.

When the petition for speedy trial came up for hearing in the high court again on March 4, the hearing was over and an order was awaited.

The high court didn't issue any new directive since the hearing was over.

In case of an offence, the police file a charge sheet after completing its investigation. Once it is filed, a court hears arguments for and against the charge sheet before framing charges against the accused, based on which the trial starts.

The trial in the AMRI case will start after Indranil Adhikary, the additional district and sessions judge, formally pronounces the charges against each of the accused on April 16, a lawyer said.

Among the accused are the then hospital directors Shravan Kumar Todi, Radhey Shyam Goenka, Radhey Shyam Agarwal, Ravi Todi, Manish Goenka, Prashant Goenka, Aditya Agarwal, Priti Sureka and Rahul Todi; doctor directors Mani Chhetri and Pronab Dasgupta; and executive director Dayanand Agarwal.

The remaining accused are hospital officials Preeta Banerjee, Sajid Hossain, Sanjib Pal and Satyabrata Upadhyay.

Apart from Section 304, the 16 accused will also be charged under Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and Section 38 (effect caused partly by act and partly by omission) of the IPC, the court has said.

All the accused, barring Preeta Banerjee, Sajid Hossain and Sanjib Pal, will also be charged under Sections 11C, 11J and 11L of the Bengal fire services act.

Family members of 40 victims were at Alipore court today, in anticipation of charges being framed.

"I thought the charges would be framed today. But it is good that matters have progressed faster than in the past," said Tapas Roy Chowdhury, who lost his 71-year-old mother in the fire.

The judge was not present in the courtroom today but he sent a written order.

After the order had been read out, family members of the victims gathered around special public prosecutor Shakti Bhattacherjee to understand the "meaning of the order".

"I feel vindicated. We had always prayed for Section 304 of the IPC," Bhattacherjee said.

Defence lawyers appeared a little disappointed. "The court has dismissed our plea to quash charges against the accused," said Salim Rahaman, one of the several lawyers defending the accused.