HC seeks Delhi govt’s response on Gangaram Hosptial’s plea to quash FIR

New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response from the Delhi government over a petition filed by Sri Gangarm Hospital seeking quashing of an FIR registered against it for violating the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on coronavirus testing.

A single judge bench of the high court presided over by Justice C. Harishankar issued a notice to the Delhi government and posted the matter for hearing on August 11. The application seeking interim stay on the probe is listed for hearing on Tuesday.

The petition has also sought setting aside of the AAP government’s order dated June 3 prohibiting Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT/PCR) sampling of suspected Covid-19 patients.

During the course of hearing, advocates Rohit Aggarwal and Sneha Sinha Jain were unable to transmit information regarding sample collection from May 8 to June 2 through the RT-PCR app as it could not register on the app due to operational constraints.

The hospital also contended that though it was not able to send the data via the RT/PCR app, but it did so by sending it manually to the Delhi government and the ICMR.

The Delhi Police registered a case against the hospital’s Medical Superintendent based on a complaint from Amit Kumar Pamasi, Deputy Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Delhi government.

Pamasi in his complaint said the hospital was not using the RT-PCR app while collecting Covid-19 samples, which is “mandatory”.

The CDMO-cum-mission director (central) said that Sir Gangaram Hospital was not using the RT-PCR app even as on June 3. It was a clear violation of the directions issued under the Epidemic Diseases Regulations 2020, the FIR stated.

The FIR was registered against the hospital on June 6, the day Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned private hospitals against denying treatment to Covid-19 patients. Sir Gangaram Hospital was also issued a directive by the Delhi government on June 3 in this regard.

–IANS

anb/arm