The Delhi High Court has sought response of the Centre and the AAP government on a public interest litigation 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 sought the stand of the two governments on the plea which has sought implementation of the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act of 2010.
The petition, by a Delhi based woman, has said that 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 the private sector except those run by the armed forces," the plea, filed through advocates Sija Nair Pal and Deepak Kumar Singh, has said.
It has claimed that non-implementation of the law has led to instances of "gross medical negligence, malpractices and negligent attitude" of clinical establishments in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
The petition has said that the Act has presently been enforced only in four states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram -- and in all the Union Territories except Delhi from March 1, 2012.
"States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam have also adopted this Act," it has said.
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The petition has further said that the Delhi government drafted the Delhi Health Bill in 2015 for the registration and regulation of clinical establishments in the national capital, but it has not yet been approved by the state legislature.
It has sought directions to the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to either implement the Clinical Establishment Act or bring into the effect the Delhi Health Bill to ensure "transparency and accountability in health care".