NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has directed the AAP government to file an affidavit regarding the mechanism being followed to ensure that the earlier direction to take action against online health service aggregators which are operating illegally and collecting samples for COVID-19 tests is being complied with. The high court was hearing a petition by Dr. Rohit Jain seeking contempt action against the authorities for not adhering to the court's earlier direction to take action against online health service aggregators which are operating illegally and collecting samples for Covid-19 tests.
The court also asked authorities regarding the steps taken when a complaint is received that a lab is functioning without the requisite licence in the city of Delhi.
Justice Subramonium Prasad perused the division bench's August 6, 2020 order by which the authorities were asked to take action against the online aggregators and said the decision indicates that a direction has been passed to the respondents to initiate action against such violators of law who are engaged illegally operating in Delhi, after giving the adequate opportunity of being to the concerned parties.
“The letter and spirit of the said order indicate that this court had intended to ensure that labs and online health service aggregators, which were not accredited by NABL and had not received approval from the ICMR to collect samples and provide reports, did not function in the city of Delhi,” the high court said.
It further said, "The respondents are directed to file an affidavit delineating the mechanism being followed to ensure that the order dated August 6, 2020, is being complied with in its letter and spirit, and the steps that are taken when a complaint is received that a lab is functioning without the requisite licence in the city of Delhi."
It listed the matter for further hearing on June 1, while directing that the responsible officers of the Delhi government, ICMR, and Delhi Police shall be present in the court on that day to assist the court in this regard. While hearing the contempt plea, the high court had earlier asked the Delhi government to consult with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and publish the requisite standards for the collection of blood samples for COVID-related tests.
It had also said the ICMR will highlight, on its website, how much blood sample is permitted to be collected for conducting the COVID-related tests. Advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for the petitioner, had urged the court to allow the contempt plea and restrain the illegal online health service aggregators, which are not authorised to collect diagnostic samples for COVID-19 tests, from further committing contempt of order passed by the court in 2020. (Agencies)
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