Provide free treatment to the poor or face cancellation of lease, SC to Delhi private hospitals

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that private hospitals in Delhi that were allotted land on concessional rates are required to provide free treatment to the people from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)..The Bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice UU Lalit also stated that failure to comply with this judgement would amount to contempt of court..The core issue in the case related to the earmarking of beds in private hospitals and provision of free treatment for people from the EWS. It was decided that patients in that category should not be charged anything by hospitals that were built on land allotted by the government at concessional rates..A Committee presided over by Justice AS Qureshi had recommended that 10% of indoor beds should be earmarked for the said category of people and 25% of OPD patients should be given free treatment, including medicines and consumables. The Government of NCT Delhi had subsequently accepted these recommendations..Later, a writ petition came to be filed before the Delhi High Court seeking compliance of the recommendations made by the Justice Qureshi Committee. The Delhi High Court in 2007 ruled that private hospitals situated on land allotted at subsidised rates should strictly comply with the recommendations..In 2012, a circular was issued by the Delhi government, intimating the hospitals to implement the Delhi High Court judgement. An order was passed in this regard by the Land and Development Officer (L&DO), making it compulsory for the hospitals to provide free treatment to the people from EWS..Another petition came to be filed in the High Court against this order, and the Court in 2014, quashed the notification passed by the L&DO. The Appeals against the Delhi High Court judgement subsequently came before the Supreme Court..The Supreme Court not only set aside the Delhi High Court judgement and effectively made it mandatory for private hospitals to provide free treatment to the poor, but also made some observations vis-a-vis the medical profession and charity..In his judgement, Justice Mishra notes,.“The medical and legal professions stand on a different pedestal in the matter of fulfilling the obligations towards the society. They are not meant to be for commercial activity which by and large has become a bitter reality of the day. ‘Free treatment’ to economically weaker sections is a normal obligation by very nature of charity.”.The Court also points out the duty that these hospitals standing on land obtained at subsidised rates have towards the society at large,.“When the Government land has been allotted to the hospitals, they would not be doing free service but being a recipient of Government largesse at concessional rates and continue to enjoy it, they owe a duty to act in public interest….…as hospitals are enjoying Government land it is open to the Government to impose such riders and stipulations for free treatment to be given to economically weaker sections.”.In light of the resistance by private hospitals in providing free treatment in the past, the Court held that should a hospital fail to comply with what is laid down in the judgement, it will be considered contempt and could lead to cancellation of lease of the erring hospital..“we make it clear that the hospitals in question and other similarly situated hospitals, shall scrupulously observe the conditions framed in the order dated 2.2.2012 and in case any violation is reported, the same shall be viewed sternly and the lease shall be cancelled.”.Read Judgement: