Supreme Court issues contempt notices to 51 Delhi hospitals for denying free EWS treatment

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued contempt notices to 51 private hospitals in the national capital for failing to provide free treatment and reserved beds to poor patients, as mandated by earlier court orders. 

A bench comprising Justices PK Mishra and NV Anjaria came down heavily on the erring institutions as well as public authorities, observing a lack of seriousness in enforcing compliance. Listing the 51 hospitals, the bench said, “Let notice be issued to the following hospitals to show cause as to why proceedings for committing contempt of court shall not be taken against them for violating this court’s order; and why the concessions granted to them by the Delhi government shall not be withdrawn.”

According to Hindustan Times, the court also expressed concern over the manner in which the matter was being handled by the authorities. It appointed the Delhi health secretary as the nodal officer to take “all such measures and actions”. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Land and Development Office (L&DO), and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have been directed to cooperate fully.

“If any lapses are found on the part of the above offices, it will be the nodal officer who shall be responsible to inform this court and take action,” the bench said in its February 24 order, which was uploaded on February 27.

The nodal officer has also been instructed to serve contempt notices to the 51 hospitals that were allotted land at subsidised or concessional rates. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 24.

The proceedings arise from the monitoring of the court’s 2018 judgment, which reaffirmed that hospitals granted land at concessional rates must provide 10% of their in-patient department (IPD) beds and 25% of out-patient department (OPD) services free of cost to EWS patients. The order had also required periodic compliance reporting from these institutions.

The names of the 51 hospitals were included in an affidavit filed by the Delhi government on February 18 in response to a January 21 direction seeking details of steps taken to enforce the 2018 ruling. The bench noted in its February 24 order, “We are of the view that strict actions are not taken against the hospitals who are in violation of this court’s order dated July 9, 2018.”

In its affidavit, the Delhi government explained that since land leases were executed by the DDA, L&DO, and MCD, letters had been sent to these authorities requesting action against defaulting hospitals. The court, however, was not satisfied.

“It appears to us that the letters issued by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) is not responded to or acted upon by the above mentioned authorities (DDA, L&DO, MCD), and the entire proceedings are taken very casually,” the top court observed.

Representing the Delhi government, additional solicitor general Vikramjeet Banerjee informed the court that compliance levels were far below mandated thresholds. Against the required 25% OPD service quota, 14 hospitals that were issued notices last year recorded performance in the range of just 1–10%. In terms of IPD services, except for one hospital, all failed to meet the 10% EWS bed requirement.

The affidavit further stated, “As is evident from the report of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the submissions of the hospitals in question, non-compliance of the orders of the Supreme Court is manifest, insofar as meeting the free treatment obligation of the EWS category is concerned.”

As per records of the Delhi health department, 63 hospitals that received land on concessional terms are bound by this free treatment condition. Of these, 56 are currently functional. Government liaison officers have been posted in these hospitals to facilitate access to free IPD and OPD services for eligible patients.

In a related development impacting hospital eligibility criteria, the Delhi government on January 2 enhanced the annual income limit for EWS patients from ₹2.20 lakh to ₹5 lakh. The revision followed a 2023 judgment of the Delhi High Court, which applied the ₹5 lakh income benchmark in the context of EWS admissions in private schools operating on concessional land.