Healthcare Community Pleased with Delhi Government’s Decision to Enforce Central Law for Regulating Clinical Establishments: ET HealthWorld

In a recent development, the Delhi High Court has commended the Delhi health minister and health secretary for their decision to implement the central government statute, The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, to regulate clinical establishments in the national capital. The Delhi government has confirmed that the health minister and the health department’s secretary have agreed to send the Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill to the Government of India for approval. In the meantime, the central government’s statute will be enforced in Delhi.

The decision came after the high court expressed satisfaction with the authorities during a hearing. The bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmohan PS Arora stated that the Delhi government officials have agreed to adopt the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 in compliance with the directives from the central government and the high court.

As a result of this decision, the Delhi High Court has closed a petition filed in 2018 by Bejon Kumar Misra, who raised concerns about unauthorized laboratories and diagnostic centers operating in Delhi with unqualified technicians, providing incorrect reports to patients. The court has directed the authorities to implement the law within two weeks.

Earlier, on March 21, the high court had warned Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Health Secretary SB Deepak Kumar of potential jail time for failing to comply with the court’s orders on enacting a law to regulate clinical establishments. The petitioner argued that unregulated pathological labs in Delhi posed a threat to citizens’ lives, estimating the number of illegal labs to be between 20,000 and 25,000 in the capital.