Supreme Court Orders Formulation Of SOP For Free Treatment To EWS In Delhi's Private Hospitals Built On Concessional Land

The Supreme Court has directed various central and state authorities, land-owning agencies, and municipal bodies to convene a high-level joint meeting in order to formulate a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the effective and strict implementation of free medical treatment for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) patients in Delhi’s private hospitals built on concessional government land.

The Court mandated that key dignitaries from the Central Government, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Land and Development Office (L&DO), and municipal bodies remain in session until a definitive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is finalized to bridge the institutional inertia.

The court took serious note of persistent non-compliance by private hospitals built on concessional government land, which are legally mandated to provide free treatment to 10% of Inpatient Department (IPD) patients and 25% of Outpatient Department (OPD) patients from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).

These hospitals were found violating the essential conditions of their concessional land allotments, which strictly obligate them to reserve 10% of Inpatient Department (IPD) beds and 25% of Outpatient Department (OPD) services free of cost for underprivileged patients.

The Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice NV Anjaria said, "Having seen the report prepared by the amici and the status of the compliance stated by the noticee hospitals in their compliance affidavits as also the suggestions in the report of the amici, we are of the view that there should be joint meeting(s) of the following officers/ officials of the various Departments/Ministries so that a guideline and/or SOP for implementation/ compliance of this Court’s order can be prepared and the same can be implemented."

To assess the ground reality, the Court had previously appointed Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain and Advocate Ninad Laud as amici curiae. On May 10, 2026, the amici submitted a comprehensive status report targeting 51 noticee hospitals that had been served contempt notices for violating the 2018 mandate. Notably, the report featured advanced geo-representations overlaying the locations of these 51 hospitals onto the base map of Delhi. This mapping visually aligned the hospitals with nearby jhuggi jhopdi bastis (slum clusters) registered under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and authorized colonies under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), highlighting the accessibility gap for the target beneficiaries.

Recognizing that seamless institutional coordination is imperative to enforce the free-treatment mandate, the Court ordered a high-level joint meeting to draft a definitive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and implementation guidelines. The Court directed Dr. Kusum Arora (Superintendent, Nursing Home and EWS In-charge, GNCTD), in consultation with the amici curiae, to convene this stakeholders' meeting at the Delhi Secretariat on May 23, 2026, at 4:00 PM.

The Court mandated that the panel remain in session until an effective SOP is finalized, drawing expertise from the following key dignitaries and authorities:

"a. The amici, Shri Sanjay Jain, Senior Advocate and Shri Ninad Laud, Advocate.

b. Dr. Kusum Arora, Superintendent Nursing Home and EWS (Economically Weaker Section) In-charge, GNCTD.

c. Noticee hospitals through their medical superintendent/authorised officers.

d. Secretary of the Department of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), GNCTD.

e. Director, Land and Development Office, Government of India.

f. Senior Officers from the land owning agencies.

g. Deputy Commissioner level officer from Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board.

h. Director level officer from Delhi Development Authority.

i. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, Central Government."

Previously, in February 2026, taking a stringent view of the non-compliance, the Court had ordered the issuance of show cause notices to 51 specific noticee hospitals (including major institutions such as Fortis, Max, Moolchand, Batra, and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, among others). The hospitals were directed to show cause as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them for violating judicial orders, and why the government land concessions granted to them should not be summarily withdrawn. The Nodal Officer was directed to serve these notices upon the respective hospitals dasti (by hand) and subsequently file an affidavit of service.

To remedy the lack of coordination and institutional inertia, the Court had also appointed the Secretary, Department of Health, GNCTD, as the Nodal Officer. The Nodal Officer was vested with the mandate to initiate and oversee all necessary measures against the defaulting hospitals. The Court explicitly directed the DDA, L&DO, and MCD to strictly report and respond to the Nodal Officer, clarifying that the Nodal Officer would be held personally accountable for reporting any future bureaucratic lapses to the Court and taking consequential actions.

On the same day, upon perusal of the compliance affidavit filed by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), the Court had observed that strict penal actions were not being taken against hospitals violating the landmark judgment dated 09.07.2018. The Court noted that except for four specific institutions—namely Amar Jyoti Hospital, Bhagwati Hospital, Venu Eye Institute, and Jivodaya Hospital—all other hospitals listed in the compliance affidavit were found in breach of the Court's directives.

Despite these violations, regulatory authorities including the GNCTD, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Land and Development Office (L&DO), and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) failed to initiate punitive measures, treating the communication and entire proceedings in a highly casual manner.

Accordingly, now the matter is listed for a further date.

Cause Title: Union of India v. Moolchand Khairati Ram Trust [Miscellaneous Application No. 1187/2019 in C.A. No. 3155/2017]

Appearances:

Parties: Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain, Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee, Senior Advocate Sridhar Potaraju, Senior Advocate Raghenth Basant, Senior Advocate Gaurav Sarin, Senior Advocate Rajeev Sharma, Senior Advocate Sandeep Agarwal, Senior Advocate Abhishek Malhotra, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, Senior Advocate Rajeev Shakdher, Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Senior Advocate Rajiv Shakdhar and other advocates.

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