HC grants time to Delhi govt to reply to PIL against earmarking beds in hotels for officials

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday granted time to the Delhi government to respond to a plea challenging its notification reserving rooms in four hotels linked with two hospitals for treatment of officials of various public authorities and their families.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh gave four more weeks to the Delhi government to file reply to the petition on the request of the government counsel.

The court had on May 10 issued a notice seeking reply from the Delhi government on the petition filed by Delhi-based doctor Kaushal Kant Mishra.

According to the Delhi government’s April 27 notification, 70 rooms in Hotel Ginger at Vivek Vihar here, 50 rooms in Hotel Park Plaza in Shahdara, and 50 rooms in Hotel Leela Ambience at CBD Ground in Karkardooma, linked to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital and all the rooms in Hotel Golden Tulip at Hari Nagar, linked to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital (DDU), are reserved for the treatment of officers/officials of Delhi government, autonomous bodies, corporations, local bodies and their families.

The plea has contended that creating a classification in favour of a certain category of persons was ”arbitrary” and ”unimaginable” when the common man was running from pillar to post in search of oxygen beds.

”It violates the right to health by diverting crucial health resources of the community away from the common citizens and in favour of already privileged government officers,” the petition has said.

Apart from setting aside the April 27 notification, Mishra has also sought quashing of three Delhi government orders of last year as per which initially two dedicated hospitals and one testing laboratory were earmarked for the treatment of such officials/their families and later, the four hospitals were linked to the two government hospitals.