HC dismisses plea for court-monitored probe into allegations of fake lab tests at mohalla clinics

Saxenas recommendation came days after he ordered a CBI probe into alleged supply of drugs to Delhi government hospitals that had failed quality standard tests.In the alternative, the petitioner sought a direction to the authorities for laying down appropriate guidelines for regulating pathological labs until the implementation of the Health Bill, 2019 of the Government of NCT of Delhi or Clinical Establishment Act, 2010, saying illegal pathological laboratories are thriving unauthorisedly across the city.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking a court-monitored inquiry into the allegations of fake laboratory tests being conducted at mohalla clinics set up in the national capital by the AAP government.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora refused to entertain the application, noting that since the matter has already been referred to the CBI, the court need not issue any order.

The Delhi government's standing counsel (Civil), Santosh Kumar Tripathi, and lawyer Arun Panwar told the court although the CBI is already seized of the controversy, the government has no objection to a court-monitored probe.

"Keeping in mind that the matter is already referred to the CBI, no order is called for by the court in the present application. The application is dismissed," the bench said.

The application was filed by Bejon Kumar Misra, a social activist, in a pending public interest litigation seeking closing down of unauthorised pathological labs and diagnostic centres in the national capital, alleging they were being managed by unqualified technicians.

Misra's PIL has also sought a policy for regulating the opening and running of pathological laboratories, including calibration of diagnostic equipment in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.

In the fresh application, filed through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, the petitioner sought a court-monitored inquiry under the supervision of a former judge of the high court into allegations of fake laboratory tests being performed at mohalla (neighbourhood) clinics in Delhi, widely reported in newspapers.

"In this respect, it is submitted that the recent scam unearthed startling fact that in August 2023, it was found that some doctors and staff and seven mohalla clinics in south west Shahdara and north east districts were resorting to unethical practices to fraudulently mark their attendance through pre-recorded videos….," the plea said.

Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has recommended a CBI probe into alleged fake pathological tests and 'ghost patients' at mohalla clinics. Saxena's recommendation came days after he ordered a CBI probe into alleged supply of drugs to Delhi government hospitals that had failed ''quality standard tests''.

In the alternative, the petitioner sought a direction to the authorities for laying down appropriate guidelines for regulating pathological labs until the implementation of the Health Bill, 2019 of the Government of NCT of Delhi or Clinical Establishment Act, 2010, saying illegal pathological laboratories are thriving unauthorisedly across the city.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)