HC issue notice to Centre, Delhi govt on plea seeking to ensure proper COVID-19 testing
May 18, 2021
New Delhi [India], May 18 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre and Delhi government on a plea seeking to ensure all COVID-19 tests are conducted by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approved and registered pathological labs as the labs of NCT of Delhi are not conforming to the directions or orders of the Supreme Court.
The bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh response from all the respondents and listed the matter for July 30 along with the ongoing pending PIL case filed by the same petitioner.
The petition filed by Bejon Kumar Misra through advocates Shashak Deo Sudhi, Bijender P Kumar and Dinesh Dakoria also sought to direct the respondents to ensure the collection of diagnostic samples for COVID-19 including other diagnostic samples by the qualified lab technicians for the health and safety of the patients.
It also sought to issue an immediate direction for prosecuting the culprits for the offences under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) who are involved in generating false and fake diagnostic reports for COVID-19.
The petitioner said the patients are being wrongly treated on the basis of those fake and false reports.
The plea also sought an immediate direction for the appointment of a Nodal Officer who can be accessible to the common citizen in case of any illegality or foul practices detected in pathological reports while testing for COVID-19 irrespective of reports or testing rates.
The petitioner submitted that as per the clinical reports, the majority of the pathological labs are being operated without any registration/accreditation, which is leading to the generation of inaccurate and false reports which ultimately result in wrong medication and even causing avoidable death of the patients.
He submitted that COVID-19 is spreading its poisonous tentacles to the whole population of the country including the NCT of Delhi and the government of NCT of Delhi has lied to the court in this matter on various occasions for its inability to protect the lives of the citizen of the state.
The petitioner further submitted that the government of NCT of Delhi is willfully not complying with the direction of the Supreme Court that has categorically held that the COVID-19 tests must be conducted in NBAL accredited labs, ICMR and World Health Organisation (WHO) approved labs.
The petition submitted that COVID-19 reports are being prepared by underqualified people.
