The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to Centre to operationalize all the provisions of the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 and Clinical Establishment Rules, 2012, across the country. The plea contended that regulation of standards in clinical establishments which had been adopted as a national policy goal by Centre nearly two decades ago, is yet to be effectively implemented across the country.

The appeal filed by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan claimed the private healthcare centres and hospitals are exploiting patients and not following the uniform protocols.  The bench noted, "The Preamble says that the Act is applicable to the entire country, right?" Parikh submitted that some states have adopted it, but other states have passed similar legislations. "When Covid came, this was there. The Act clearly mentions the rates that are to be charged from the patients etc," Parikh submitted.

The bench further noted that states have some mechanism regarding registering and regulating these establishments. Parikh submitted that implementation of this will be possible if notice is issued to the Centre's standing counsel. After hearing arguments, the top court issued notice in the matter. Concluding the hearing, the Chief Justice remarked, "Let us hope the government will respond".

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