Supreme Court to hear plea against Kerala HC guidelines on clinical establishments

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging a Kerala High Court verdict that issued a bunch of guidelines, relating to clinical establishments including displaying list of the services offered.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice in a petition filed by the Kerala Private Hospitals Association challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2018 and the Rules framed under it.

The Court has requested Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General and Mr. M.K. Maroria learned Advocate-on-Record, to assist the Court on behalf of the Union of India in this matter

Notably, the High Court issued directions, including that hospitals cannot deny life-saving treatment for non-payment of advance or lack of documents. It also directed every clinical establishment to file an undertaking of compliance within 30 days, followed by audits, clarifying that non-compliance would invite regulatory action.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan told court that the petitioners were not opposed to the requirement of providing emergency treatment, clarifying that there was no objection to the mandate that life-saving care should not be denied for want of money. 

The Special Leave Petition questions the constitutional validity of key provisions including Sections 16, 39 and 47 of the Act. Section 39 mandates every clinical establishment to publicly display the fee rate and package rate of all services provided.

According to the petition, the Act does not define crucial expressions such as “fee rate”, “package rate” or even “type of service”, rendering the requirement vague, unworkable and open to arbitrary enforcement. The petition argues that medical treatment is inherently dynamic and varies from patient to patient, making any obligation to pre-display exhaustive price structures commercially oppressive and structurally impossible.

Section 47 of the Act, which obligates all clinical establishments to provide life-saving treatment and ensure safe transportation of patients in emergencies has also been challenged saying that the provision applies uniformly to all establishments regardless of size, infrastructure or capability, treating a tertiary referral hospital and a single-doctor clinic alike.

The petition also raises privacy concerns, objecting to the requirement under the Rules and prescribed forms to disclose granular details of doctors, nurses and other staff, including qualifications and registration numbers, to be uploaded and periodically updated on government systems.

Case Title: KERALA PRIVATE HOSPITALS ASSOCIATION & ANR. vs. STATE OF KERALA & ORS.