The Supreme Court has set aside the Allahabad High Court order directing the officials in Uttar Pradesh to avail services from government hospitals.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar orally remarked on Tuesday that the directions, issued by the High Court in 2018, interfered with policy decisions and meddled with the choice of treatment a patient wished to have.
It said the High Court could not direct a policy decisions regarding where a person could get treatment from.
Noting that the directions were issued with a noble intent to improve the conditions of government hospitals, the Bench said the High Court, however, could not say that the officials must get treatment only from certain hospitals.
Direction No. 11 of the 2018 verdict mandated all Government Officials and others receiving salary or other financial gains from Government/Public exchequer, to avail Medical Care services from Hospitals run and maintained by Government. It further said that whenever any high-level official, political Executive or other dignitary went for treatment, the Medical Officer on duty, by roster, shall attend him and there shall be no special VIP treatment.
If medical care was obtained in a private hospital, the government must not reimburse the same. However, if there were some kinds of diseases or ailment, treatment /cure whereof was not available in government hospitals and treatment in private became necessary, this condition may be relaxed but in such contingency, the government must ensure that for similar ailments and deceases if suffered by common poor people, arrangement should be made for their treatment also at government expenses in such private medical care institutions, it added.
The Apex Court was apprised that previously, the directions in the impugned order with respect to the private hospitals were stayed by the High Court.
The Bench was further informed that the directions further pertained to clearances of roads by traffic police for ambulances and the formation of special committees involving common people to overlook the functioning of Medical Care Centres.
On May 14, 2018, the Bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice L Nageshwar Rao had stayed the Direction No.13 (d) to (h) and Direction No.14 dealing with traffic police to ensure clearance of passages and roads for efficient movement of ambulances and forming permanent Special Committees at District and Block levels having common people to monitor the functioning of Medical Care Centres of State.
Direction No. 15 was modified to state that it shall only be confined to the patients and only one attendant. The original direction required free food to patients and their attendants in all State-run Medical Care Centres.
During the hearing on February 26, the Bench further verbally objected to the High Court’s direction on filling medical staff vacancies in Government Hospitals.
The direction of not allowing financial reimbursement of private hospital bills for government officials and encouraging public servants to avail treatments at government hospitals may lead to public sector services being arbitrarily diverted to government employees, overlooking the needs of underprivileged patients, it noted.
The top court of the country further pointed out that the government servants may probably get preference over normal citizens.
The Apex Court confirmed the interim order passed in May 2018 and set aside the High Court directions to that extent.
It further granted liberty to the writ petitioners to move another plea specific to data and facts before the High Court for appropriate steps for execution/ implementation of the decision. If any such writ petition was filed, the same shall be considered and examined, it added.
The High Court had delivered the judgment on a PIL filed under Article 226 on the issue of poor medical services in the State of Uttar Pradesh.