An interview with Dr.Pradeep Arora. A General surgeon and paediatrician who is now a hero in his own right.

Prakash Sunkalwar interviewed Dr.Pradeep Arora today. Dr. Pradeep Arora had filed petition in supreme court against the notifications of Maharashtra. Supreme Court today rejected Maharashtra’s plea against order quashing directive capping treatment cost of non-Covid patients

The Bench said that it cannot issue such notifications at the time when the government itself doesn’t have necessary infrastructure to treat non-Covid patients at government hospitals.

The Supreme Court on July 19 refused to interfere with a Bombay court order quashing the Maharashtra government notifications regulating the rates chargeable by private hospitals and nursing homes to non-Covid patients.

A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah said it will not interfere with the high court order because the government cannot issue such notifications.

At the outset, advocate Rahul Chitnis, appearing for the Maharashtra government, said the State has filed an appeal against the October 23, 2020 order of the high court quashing the notifications concerning capping of price of treatment for non-Covid patients.

The Bench said that it cannot issue such notifications at the time when the State government itself does not have necessary infrastructure to treat non-Covid patients at government hospitals.

“Non-Covid patients are sure to move to non-public hospitals once you don’t have necessary infrastructure. Sorry, we’ll not interfere,” the Bench said.

On October 23, 2020, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay high court had said the Maharashtra government doesn’t have powers to enforce any law or issue any notification regulating the rates chargeable by private hospitals and nursing homes to non-Covid patients.

It had quashed and set aside two notifications issued by the State government in April and May last year to the extent applicable to non-Covid patients in private hospitals and nursing homes.

Through the notifications, the govt prescribed a rate card for hospitals and nursing homes while treating non-COVID patients.

The notifications said private hospitals and nursing homes are required to reserve 80% of their beds to treat COVID-19 patients and the remaining 20% to treat non-Covid patients.

The court had further held that the Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act and Covid Regulations do not empower the state government to issue directions in relation to non-Covid patients being treated in private hospitals and nursing homes.

The supreme court passed the order on petitions filed by Hospitals’ Association of Nagpur and Dr. Pradeep Arora against the notifications.

The petition had said the fundamental right to practice any profession under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution includes the right to charge rates reasonable and proportionate to the nature and quality of medical treatment and allied services rendered to non-Covid patients. The rates prescribed by the State government are unreasonably low and to insist upon providing treatment and services to non-Covid patients at such rates cannot be justified, the petition stated.

The government had opposed the petitions while contending that there was a medical emergency situation prevailing within the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The supreme court had held the government’s notifications were “clearly an encroachment over the rights of the petitioner under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India to practise any profession”.

Profile of Dr. Pradeep Arora

On October 23,2020 and again today,19th July 2021, Dr Pradeep Arora assisted VHA to obtain a landmark verdict from the courts, which not many HC lawyers were willing to contest due to “limited chances of victory”.

“Once Dr. Arora decides something, he does it. He was fully committed to the cause. Dr. Arora did not charge a fee from VHA for this case and plans to fight many legal battles. “We have won this war, but the war will continue. I will fight for the rights of doctors not because I am one of them. I have a holistic view of health care. The basic rights of physicians are often and completely violated because of their vulnerability, the nature of their work and no control over the outcome. This is because of the very discriminatory laws, ”he said.

A native of Haryana, 64 year old, Dr. Arora is a surgeon and pediatrician who has worked in the city since 1993. Prior to the historic success of the pricing case, Dr. Arora had established his law studies when he filed a property lawsuit in a public court in 2016.

Although his previous cases are pending, he has been able to obtain interim relief in all of them. At first appearance at HC in 2017, Dr Arora expressed a discrepancy in registration of nursing homes. Temporary relief has opened the way for not only his nursing home but also many others that were on the verge of closure.

Another reason for the doctor’s interest in enforcing the law was the state’s strengthening of the medical relationship. “Over the past decade, the level of legislation has increased. One such case was the renewal of my old age home. According to the letter of law, there was a three-year grant but the local authorities under the NMC gave you only one year, ”he said.

In April 2017, Dr. Arora moved the Nagpur bench to Bombay HC against the public body. “Judge BP Dharmadhikari provided temporary relief. It has been customary for NMC to register for only one year but that has not been the case ever since,” he said. “I started pleading my case. I appeared in person for the first time in front of the highest court judge in May 2016,” he said.

Until then, Dr. Arora found the law to be a tedious issue. While pleading for his property case, he found the law very simple and straightforward. He started reading law books as a hobby and soon had a command on the matter. He says: “Having been a victim of injustice, I was yearning for justice, and I studied law.

Dr Arora has taken many cases and intervened in health matters at all levels. His next goal is to help private hospitals get compensation for the financial burden from price capping.

I take the rights of doctors not because I am one of them. I have a holistic view of health care. The basic rights of physicians are often and completely violated because of their vulnerability, the nature of their work and no control over the outcome. This is because of the very discriminatory laws

Dr. Pradeep Arora | surgeon and pediatrician