Fake Lab Tests at Mohalla Clinics: HC rejects plea seeking court-monitored probe

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking a court-monitored investigation into allegations of fake laboratory tests conducted at mohalla clinics established by the Aam Aadmi Party government. 

The application referenced an incident from August last year, revealing unethical practices at certain clinics involving the use of pre-recorded videos to mark attendance.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora rejected the application filed by social activist Bejon Kumar Misra within the framework of his existing PIL addressing "unauthorised pathological labs and diagnostic centres" in Delhi.

The dismissed application had specifically requested a court-monitored inquiry, supervised by a former High Court judge, into claims of fraudulent laboratory tests at mohalla clinics.

It also called for the formulation of a policy to regulate the establishment and operation of pathological laboratories in the national capital. The plea urged the constitution of an appropriate authority for regular inspections of pathological labs and stressed strict adherence to the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act of 2010 in Delhi.

Citing a news report, the PIL claimed that out of nearly 1,000 diagnostic labs in Delhi NCR, only 10 per cent are accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that Lt Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged fake lab tests and ghost patients at Delhi's mohalla clinics, Raj Niwas officials said. The development comes days after Saxena ordered a CBI probe into the alleged supply of drugs to Delhi government hospitals that had failed “quality standard tests”.