While hearing a matter seeking regulation of pathological laboratories in the national capital, the Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed its displeasure with Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Health Secretary Dr S B Deepak Kumar over the non-implementation of the law concerning the issue.
Orally addressing Bharadwaj and Kumar during the hearing, a division bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora stated, “He (petitioner) is telling us that all sorts of reports are being generated by such labs which are not true and the common man is suffering.”
Orally, the bench expressed its disapproval of the “game of one-upmanship between the two of you (Bharadwaj and Kumar) various factions which is going on” and declared that it would not think twice to send them to prison if doing so would benefit the general public.
You need to have common sense. It is your responsibility to make sure touts lose out. If one of you is unable to handle it, we will either issue a judicial order specifying what needs to be done or we will issue an order declaring that neither of you is competent of handling it and giving it to a third party. The average person is not receiving an accurate blood report, and he will take the incorrect medication. There will be grave repercussions,” the court said.
The Delhi administration was instructed by the High Court to hasten the Delhi Health Bill’s finalization process on May 30 of last year. The Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2022 is referred to in this bill. In the interim while the Bill was being finalized, it also instructed the government to examine whether the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 might be implemented if “the said process (it is) likely to take a long time.”
Orally, the bench said, “We personally called you over here.” Avoid competing with the court in a personal one-upsmanship game. You will both be imprisoned. If this helps the average person, we won’t think twice about putting you both in jail. Both of you work for the government as servants. You both need to make sure that everyone wins. How are you spending your time?
In May 2022, a committee tasked with finalizing the draft health law met and accepted the proposal, according to Minister Bharadwaj’s submission to the bench. After that, in July 2022, the then-health minister gave the order for the law department to review the draft bill after it had been reviewed by standing counsel for the Government of the National Capital Territory (GNCTD) for any recommendations.
Following his approval of the revised draft and incorporation of the standing counsel’s suggestions, the Law Department reviewed the proposed Bill in August 2022 and advised the Administrative Department to review the relevant aspects to ensure that it does not violate any laws passed by Parliament or the Clinical Establishment Act of 2010.
Following that, in September 2022, the Law Department offered two choices: it could proceed with the Delhi Health Bill or handle the Clinical Establishment Act 2010 adoption procedure. According to him, in January 2023, the then-minister made the decision to choose the second alternative.
But after reviewing the case files, the bench noted that some repugnancy had been identified and that the Bill would need to be forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It stated that as it was already 2024, the Bill ought to have been sent.
Subsequently, Bharadwaj stated that a comparison of the two laws was conducted and it was discovered that a significant amount of infrastructure would need to be established in the interim. The Central law (2010 Act) refers to granting authority to district magistrates who are “overloaded and they cannot go into registration of hospitals and nursing homes.” He stated that the Bill called for a state-level panel to be led by a retired
