Delhi HC directs state govt to reimburse Rs 16 lakh to judicial officer for Covid-19 treatment
Nov 23, 2022
New Delhi [India], November 23 : The Delhi High Court on Monday, while deciding a plea moved by a senior judge, directed the Delhi government to reimburse him more than Rs 16 lakh spent by him on the treatment of Covid-19 during the second wave in 2021.
The petitioner, Dinesh Kumar, is an Additional District Judge at the Saket court of Delhi. He was admitted to the PSRI Hospital for treatment between April 22 and June 7, last year. During treatment, he was on the ventilator for three weeks, which cost him Rs 24,02,380 as total hospital bills.
However, he was reimbursed only Rs 7,08,500 by the government. The Delhi Government had said that the hospital ignored the charges fixed by it for the treatment of Covid-19 and overcharged him. He was denied reimbursement of the remaining amount. Thereafter, the judicial officer approached the High Court seeking a direction for reimbursement.
Justice Rekha Palli decided the petition in favour of Dinesh Kumar directing the Delhi government and other respondents to pay him the balance amount of Rs.16,93,880 within four weeks.
Justice Palli rejected the Delhi Government's plea that the respondent hospital should be directed to refund the amount of Rs 16,93,880.
The bench said, "The petitioner, who had to spend his hard-earned savings while undergoing treatment to save his life, cannot be simply told that, since the hospital has failed to abide by the circular of 20.06.2020 issued by the Delhi Government, he should seek a refund from the said hospital which saved his life."
"This Court does not deem it appropriate or necessary to delve into the validity of the circular, in the present petition, where an officer of Delhi Higher Judicial Service is seeking simpliciter reimbursement of the amount for the bona fide expenses incurred by him for treatment at the respondent hospital for Covid-19 when the city was engulfed with the second wave of the pandemic," the bench further said.
The petitioner has not only battled with the deadly Covid-19 after remaining on the ventilator for over three weeks but has also been struggling to seek reimbursement for the amount spent by him in a grave medical emergency, the court said.
It added that undoubtedly, respondents number 1 to 3 are justified in urging that respondent no.5 had charged much beyond what was prescribed in the circular dated 20.06.2020 issued by the GNCTD, and it is only because of the said overcharging that the petitioner had to incur much higher expenses than what have been reimbursed to him by the respondent number 1 to 3.
"However, the fact remains that during April and May 2021, when the residents of Delhi were not only struggling to get hospital beds, but there was also a huge shortage of oxygen, the petitioner had no other option but to take treatment at the respondent hospital, and has thankfully survived," the court observed.
"One shudders to think what fate the petitioner would have met if he had not, at that point, been treated at the respondent hospital," it further observed.
"I have no hesitation in holding that the respondent number 1 to 3 ought to forthwith reimburse the petitioner by paying him the differential amount of Rs.16,93,880 and if permissible, recover the same from the respondent hospital," the Court added.
However, the court made it clear that Court has not expressed any opinion on the validity of the circular of 20.06.2020 and therefore, it will be open for respondent number 1 to 3 to pursue their remedy against the hospital, including taking penal action, and recovery of any amount which it perceives has been charged in excess.
Advocate J P Sengh, the counsel for the petitioner, had submitted that the petitioner was in a helpless stage, and had no option but to pay the entire amount of Rs 24,02,380 as demanded by the respondent hospital against appropriate receipts.
