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A plea has been filed in Supreme Court seeking to safeguard the right to receive medical treatment and medical supplies in any part of the country irrespective of their place of residence or domicile (as per their Aadhar Card) indicating their permanent place of residence, being in any other part of the country. 

It has been argued that the hospitals in Noida and Gurgaon have made it mandatory to produce an Aadhar Card with a local Noida or Gurgaon address, as the case may be, for being eligible to be admitted to the hospitals situated therein. The same practice has, apparently, also been extended for access to medical supplies.

The plea has been preferred by Mr Karan Kohli & filed by Advocate on Record Ms Prerna Priyadarshini. The same is listed to be heard before the Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice L Nageshwar Rao & Justice S Ravindra Bhatt on April 30, 2021. 

The petitioners have averred that the purported decision dated 21.04.2021 taken by the State of Haryana w.r.t. Gurugram that, “… all private hospitals will make efforts to admit the patients, subject to availability of beds, who are residents of District Gurugram…” has caused massive distress especially to the critically ill & old patients, amongst others.

It has been averred that denying access to medical facilities and/ or medical supplies to citizens merely on the basis of their domicile (or the lack thereof) is contrary to all constitutional and human norms. 

In this context it has further been contended that the action of the State Authorities in denying life saving medical assistance to citizens is ex facie unconstitutional and the practice needs to be deprecated by this Hon’ble Court.

“The imposition of such a requirement of local address proof, by way of Aadhar card or otherwise, is in complete contravention of the fundamental right to life, health and medical aid under Article 21, right to equality under Article 14 as well as the right to move freely, reside and settle in any part of India enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.”, the plea states.  

Thereafter, the plea seeks for the Hon’ble Court’s to take judicial notice of the the prevailing pandemic situation, especially in the NCR Region, which has stretched medical infrastructure to its limits (and beyond) and direct for provision of medical help be provided to citizens irrespective of their domicile and/ or place of residence in their Aadhar Card. The petitioners have also sought for issuing a writ of mandamus to quash the circular dated 21.04.2021 issued by the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram.