New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the city’s health minister and department secretary to appear before it on March 21 over the delay in enacting a law to regulate clinical establishments, including laboratories.
Saying that it is a “sorry state of affairs”, the bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet PS Arora sought the personal presence of minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and health secretary SB Deepak Kumar after examining an email which said the minister was not kept in the loop during the discussions on the Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2022, also called the Delhi Health Bill.
On Thursday, after going through the email, the bench observed: “We can only say it is a sorry state of affairs. This has been pending for the last five years.”
The court said the health minister and secretary cannot have a “spat” like this. “This was never heard of before. Some maturity must be shown by both of them,” the bench remarked, asking them “to be personally present in court at 4pm on March 21”.
The court said that in case the law is enacted before that, they can seek exemption.
The bench was hearing a 2018 petition by Bejon Kumar Misra who has alleged that unauthorised laboratories and diagnostic centres in Delhi were being managed by unqualified technicians. During the hearing, govt’s additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal apprised the court that the office of the standing counsel had received an email from the office of the health minister that said he was not kept in the loop while discussions were taking place on the bill.
The minister, in the email, requested that the hearing be deferred for some time to enable him to look into the matter and to comply with the court’s earlier order, directing Delhi govt to expedite the process of finalisation of the bill. Govt had earlier told the high court that it was “actively” taking steps for drafting, finalising and enacting a law to regulate clinical establishments.
Saying that it is a “sorry state of affairs”, the bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet PS Arora sought the personal presence of minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and health secretary SB Deepak Kumar after examining an email which said the minister was not kept in the loop during the discussions on the Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2022, also called the Delhi Health Bill.
On Thursday, after going through the email, the bench observed: “We can only say it is a sorry state of affairs. This has been pending for the last five years.”
The court said the health minister and secretary cannot have a “spat” like this. “This was never heard of before. Some maturity must be shown by both of them,” the bench remarked, asking them “to be personally present in court at 4pm on March 21”.
The court said that in case the law is enacted before that, they can seek exemption.
The bench was hearing a 2018 petition by Bejon Kumar Misra who has alleged that unauthorised laboratories and diagnostic centres in Delhi were being managed by unqualified technicians. During the hearing, govt’s additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal apprised the court that the office of the standing counsel had received an email from the office of the health minister that said he was not kept in the loop while discussions were taking place on the bill.
The minister, in the email, requested that the hearing be deferred for some time to enable him to look into the matter and to comply with the court’s earlier order, directing Delhi govt to expedite the process of finalisation of the bill. Govt had earlier told the high court that it was “actively” taking steps for drafting, finalising and enacting a law to regulate clinical establishments.