HC seeks list of private hospitals, built on subsidised govt land

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to furnish it a list of various private hospitals built on land allocated by the government on highly subsidised prices.

A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and G P Mittal sought the list on a plea to launch contempt of court proceedings against the private hospitals for defying an earlier court order to provide free beds to poor patients and extend them free indoor medical treatment in return for the subsidised land allocated to them.

Seeking the list within three weeks, the bench slated August 25 to hear the matter.

The plea to launch the contempt of court proceedings was filed by Social Jurists, a civil society, through its counsel Ashok Aggarwal who alleged three hospitals have failed to comply with the high court’s March 2007 order.

The court had in its order stipulated that the hospitals, which had got the government land at subsidised prices, would provide free medical treatment to the poor and reserve 10 percent beds for outdoor patients and 25 percent for indoor patients.

In the contempt petition, Mr. Aggarwal alleged some reputed hospitals have failed to comply with the court’s earlier order.

Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital, St Stephens and Moolchand Hospital said the land on which they are built were not obtained from government with the condition to provide free medical treatment to the poor.