Lucknow: Hospitals and doctors cannot refuse or delay treatment to a person injured in a road accident on the ground that medico-legal formalities or police procedures have not been completed, Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court said on Friday.A division bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla passed the order on a PIL filed by Anju Prakash Srivastava in 2000.The court directed the state govt to file its counter-affidavit within 10 days, detailing the steps taken to ensure compliance with Supreme Court’s directions and the guidelines issued by Union govt regarding the treatment of road accident victims.The bench expressed displeasure that the state had failed to file its counter-affidavit for more than 25 years. It hence directed the state to pay Rs 25,000 as costs to the petitioner, who has been pursuing the litigation since 2000. The matter will next be heard on Oct 1.The court said every doctor has a professional obligation to protect human life and provide immediate medical care to an injured person, irrespective of whether the person was at fault in the accident. The bench said procedural requirements cannot come in the way of this paramount obligation.The PIL included a photograph of a prominent hospital in Lucknow, showing a notice displayed on the hospital facade stating that medico-legal cases, including burn and accident cases, were not treated there.During the hearing, the state referred to Supreme Court’s 2016 judgment in Savelife Foundation and the guidelines issued by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on May 12, 2015, for the protection of Good Samaritans.The guidelines state that failure by a doctor to respond in an emergency arising from a road accident, where the doctor is expected to provide care, may constitute professional misconduct, and disciplinary action can be taken against the doctor.The guidelines also require hospitals to display a charter at their entrances, in Hindi, English and the local language, stating that a bystander or Good Samaritan who brings an injured person to the hospital should not be detained or asked to deposit money for the victim’s treatment. The guidelines are applicable to both public and private hospitals.HC further directed the state govt to disclose in its affidavit the mechanism in place to monitor compliance with these directions, details of inspections of hospitals, the system for receiving and redressing complaints regarding violations, and, as far as possible, district-wise details of complaints received.
