Supreme Court Warns Apollo Hospital: Provide Free Treatment or Face AIIMS Takeover

Court orders inspection of Apollo Hospital records

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that private hospitals in Delhi, which were allotted land at concessional rates, must provide free treatment to a certain percentage of poor patients. Representative Image: Unsplash

Published on:

28 Mar 2025, 7:35 am

India's Supreme Court has issued a stern direction to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, stressing the need to provide free medical treatment to poor patients. On Tuesday, the apex court ordered the central and Delhi governments to constitute a joint team to examine the hospital's records for the last five years. The inspection is aimed at verifying compliance with the 1994 lease agreement, which obliges the hospital to offer free treatment to 30% of indoor and 40% of outdoor patients.

Serious concerns over lease agreement violations

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh expressed serious concerns about possible violations of the lease terms by Indraprastha Medical Corporation Limited (IMCL), the entity that runs Apollo Hospital. The court pointed out that the hospital was given land on a 30-year lease, which was to end in 2023, with a rider of offering free medical treatment to economically weaker patients.

If we find out that poor people are not provided free treatment, we will hand over the hospital to AIIMS.

Justice Surya Kant

Out of 46 identified private hospitals in Delhi, 43 are providing free treatment to eligible EWS patients, fulfilling the requirement of allocating 10% of inpatient department (IPD) capacity and 25% of outpatient department (OPD) capacity for free services. Representative Image: Pexels

Lease status and patient care records to be scrutinized

The bench ordered the central and Delhi governments to find out if the lease agreement of the hospital was extended after 2023. In addition, the court asked for the exact details of the hospital's present bed capacity and OPD patients' records for the past five years. The court emphasized transparency in the number of poor patients who were given free treatment in these five years.

"The affidavits will also explain how many poor patients recommended were provided free treatment in the past five years," the bench said and asked the hospital administration to cooperate with the inspection team and provide all relevant records as sought by the monitoring authority

Hospital management asked to cooperate

The Supreme Court has asked the Apollo Hospital management to completely cooperate with the inspection team and present all the records that are demanded by the monitoring authority. The hospital has also been allowed to submit its affidavit, if any, prior to the subsequent hearing after four weeks.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Muhammad Faisal Arshad/MSM)

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