Delhi HC threatens to jail Bharadwaj, health secy for not complying with order

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (March 21) threatened to jail Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and the health secretary for not complying with judicial orders on enacting a law to regulate clinical establishments.

The court told Bharadwaj and secretary SB Deepak Kumar that they were “servants of (the) government” and can’t have “large egos”.

The court had in February asked Bharadwaj and Kumar to appear in the court following an email which said the minister was not kept in the loop during discussions on the Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill.

Court’s admonition

“What is troubling us is that the petitioner is highlighting the plight of a common man. He is telling us that all sorts of lab reports are being generated which are not true and correct and the common man is suffering. But it is your game of one-upmanship between the two of you and between the various factions that is going on. This is unacceptable to the court,” said acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet PS Arora.

"You have to be practical and ensure that the touts do not benefit from the fight between these two people,” the bench said and asked them not to indulge in "brinkmanship".

Minister, secretary flayed

The bench said if the minister and the secretary were incapable of handling the issues and keep on bickering, the court will ask a third party to handle things or pass an order about what has to be done.

“Don’t do this with us, otherwise you both will go to jail. We will have no hesitation in sending both of you to jail if the common man benefits from this,” the court said.

“Both of you can’t have large egos, you both are servants of the government and you both have to ensure that the common man benefits. What are you doing? People are getting wrong reports of their blood samples,” the judges said.

Citizen’s complaint

The high court was hearing a 2018 petition by Bejon Kumar Misra, represented by advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, who alleged that unauthorised laboratories and diagnostic centres were functioning in the national capital with unqualified technicians and giving incorrect reports to patients.

When the minister said the Delhi health bill was finalised in May 2022, the high court demanded to know why it was not yet sent to the Centre for approval.

The court said if this was going to take time, the Delhi government should consider implementing the Central government’s The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.

Minister irks court

Bharadwaj’s submission that the court’s indulgence will help the government to get the bill enacted irked the court.

“You think we are a pawn in this game and you will use this as a matter of strategy?” asked the court. “We are not anyone’s pawn, cure this misconception that you will use the court’s process”.

The petitioner told the court that pathological labs in Delhi are not regulated and pose a threat to the lives of citizens.