Private hospitals must treat poor for free, says HC

New Delhi: Nov 12, 2010

Big private hospitals who got land at concessional rates in the city can’t escape the obligation to provide free treatment to certain percentage of poor patients, the Delhi high court has said. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan came down heavily on private hospitals shirking from extending free treatment to poor patients though it was one of the clause in the lease deed due to which land was given to hospitals at a very cheap price. HC’s comments came on a plea filed by a few prominent city hospitals like Ganga Ram and St Stephen’s claiming that the 2007 landmark verdict of HC approving the free bed scheme wasn’t applicable on them.

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