HC seeks govt’s stand on plea for free treatment at ILBS

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought Delhi govt's stand on a plea seeking a direction that the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) give free treatment to patients as it is fully funded and owned by govt.The court was hearing a PIL which argued that despite being a govt-funded hospital, ILBS has limited free treatment for only 10% of people in its in-patient facility and 25% in the out-patient department for economically weaker sections.A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued a notice to govt and ILBS on the plea by the NGO, Social Justice.Advocate Satyakam, appearing for the petitioner, said ILBS is a premier govt-funded healthcare institution that specialises in serious liver diseases such as hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. It cannot be permitted to adopt a policy which effectively converts it into a "predominantly paid medical institution".He argued that the decision was arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution as it discriminates between affluent and indigent patients by denying them the constitutional right to access affordable and timely healthcare.The court listed the matter for April 22.In a PIL filed through lawyers Ashok Agarwal and Kumar Utkarsh, the NGO said that private hospitals allotted land by govt at concessional rates are required to provide free treatment to EWS patients — 10% in in-patient departments and 25% in the out-patient department. A fully govt-owned hospital providing the same benefit was "wholly incongruous".It emphasised that Supreme Court has mandated state-run hospitals to ensure equitable access to healthcare without "commercial barriers", and the "exclusionary and revenue-oriented policy" of ILBS has effectively converted it into a paid hospital, defeating the very purpose of its establishment.The plea said that ensuring access to health facilities to the vulnerable and marginalised is a govt's "core obligation". It sought a direction to quash ILBS's policy and ask it to provide 100% beds and medical services for free treatment to the general public, similar to other govt medical institutions.Alternatively, directions should be issued to ILBS to enhance the EWS/free category quota to at least 50%, it added.