Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 30: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed a private hospital in Rohini to continue providing treatment under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category to a 12-year-old boy critically injured after falling from a building.
The court took suo motu cognisance of a newspaper report highlighting the plight of the boy, identified as Rishabh Singh Parihar, who fell from the first floor of his residence on August 19. He was first admitted to a government hospital but later shifted to Shree Aggarsain International Hospital after his condition worsened.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora spoke to the child’s uncle over a phone call and initially considered moving him to a government hospital. However, after being informed about his medical progress, the court decided against shifting him and ordered that the hospital should not demand any money until the next hearing.
“The child shall be considered in the EWS category and no payment shall be demanded by the hospital from the parents till the next date of hearing,” the bench directed, posting the matter for September 2. The order is to be communicated to the hospital’s head.
The court’s intervention came after the boy’s father, a daily wager earning only a few thousand rupees a month, struggled to find a ventilator bed in government hospitals and had already spent Rs 2 lakh on treatment by borrowing money. The family was reportedly turned away twice from Ambedkar Hospital and asked to approach other government facilities like Safdarjung or G B Pant.
Advocate Ashok Agarwal, serving as amicus curiae, highlighted that while private hospitals are legally bound to extend medical care to EWS patients, many do not fully comply. He stressed that the eligibility criteria needed to be broadened to ensure deserving families receive timely treatment.
The Delhi government’s health secretary recently informed the court that once the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) is fully implemented, ICU and ventilator bed availability will be displayed in real time, helping families in emergencies.