The Delhi High Court has sought the response of the Centre and the city government on a petition claiming that the law for registration and regulation of all clinical establishments has not been implemented in the city despite coming into force in 2012.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao gave the direction on the plea seeking implementation of the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.
Facilities, services
The petition, filed by a Delhi-based woman, has said the Act prescribes the minimum standard of facilities and services to be provided to patients.
“The Act makes it mandatory for registration of all clinical establishments, including diagnostic centres and single-doctor clinics, across all recognised systems of medicine both in the public and private sectors, except those run by the Armed forces,” the plea has said.
It claimed that non-implementation of the law has led to instances of “gross medical negligence, malpractices and negligent attitude” of clinical establishments in Delhi.
The petition added that the Act was enforced in four States — Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram — and all Union Territories except Delhi on March 1, 2012.
“The States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam have also adopted this Act,” it said.
It added that the city government had drafted the Delhi Health Bill in 2015 for registration and regulation of clinical establishments in the Capital but it has not yet been approved by the State legislature.
