Current penal provisions too meagre! Gujarat HC tells state to revise penalties for breach of Clinical Establishments Act

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court recently suggested to the State that the amended Clinical Establishments Act, which governs the functioning of hospitals, should rationalize the penalty provisions. Noting that the first violation of the Act would entail a fine of Rs 10,000 and a second violation would result in a fine of Rs 15,000, the HC bench opined that these sums were meagre.

This suggestion was made by the High Court bench while considering a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) over people losing vision after undergoing cataract surgeries.

During the case hearing, the State Government informed the Court that it had reframed the regulations and included all hospitals, clinics, and consulting rooms under the law. The State also informed the HC bench that all these establishments would now be required to register under the rules.

However, the Court noted that the State-Level Council has not been fully constituted. Observing this, the Court said that the process of determining standards and specifying the rights of patients was not possible. Therefore, the HC bench suggested the State Government to complete these processes first.

Also Read: Gujarat Clinical Establishments Act to be amended, Registration to become Mandatory for All hospitals

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the judges said that the registration and proper inspections were necessary to curb quackery. Regarding this, the judges cited the examples of quacks running clinics and doctors performing surgeries in their houses in contravention of the law. 

Referring to these instances, the Court said that without fixing the standards for hospitals for registration, registration would be an empty formality. Further, the Court questioned the penalty provisions for breach of the Act and noted that the first violation would entail a fine of Rs 10,000 and for the second breach, penalty of Rs 15,000 would be imposed. 

Noting that these sums were meagre, the judges were quoted observing by TOI, "They will run away after paying this. They have money. There should be something more than that."

Agreeing with the suggestion, the advocate general prayed for time to come up with the changes in the penal provisions. However, the judges perused the penal provisions for minor and major deficiencies such as in the cases of medical negligence, and further suggested, "You must balance it so that the provisions are not misused."

The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 15, 2024.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the HC bench had taken suo motu cognisance of the issue after a media report stated that 17 persons lost their vision after undergoing cataract surgery at a trust-run hospital. The Court had earlier sought a report from the government by February 7.

The division bench of Justices AS Supehia and Vimal K Vyas had issued notices to the secretary of state health and family welfare department and superintendent of police of Ahmedabad Rural, directing them to file a preliminary report by February 7.

Based on the directions received earlier, the State Government submitted its report regarding the incident and also informed how the patients were shifted to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad for treatment and how some of them were discharged against medical advice.

Recently, the Gujarat Government decided to make it mandatory for all the medical establishments across the State to register, irrespective of their size. It was decided that the Medical establishments would be required to fulfill this condition under the Gujarat Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2021, which was to be amended by the Gujarat Government.

Also Read: Vision loss of 17 persons after cataract surgery at Ahmedabad hospital, Gujarat HC seeks Govt report