Delhi Mohalla Clinic Row: HC Dismisses Plea Seeking Court-Monitored Probe, Says 'Matter Referred To CBI'

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora dismissed the petition saying since the matter is being probed by CBI, there is no need for a court-monitored inquiry.

Patients at a Delhi government-run mohalla clinic at Nizamuddin.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Noting that the matter has been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking a court-monitored probe into allegations that “fake laboratory tests” were conducted at the mohalla clinics in the national capital, news agency PTI reported.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora dismissed the petition saying since the matter is being probed by the central agency, there is no need for a court-monitored inquiry.

“Keeping in mind that the matter is already referred to the CBI, no order is called for by the court in the present application. The application is dismissed,” the High Court bench said, as reported by the news agency.

The Delhi government's standing counsel (Civil), Santosh Kumar Tripathi, and lawyer Arun Panwar argued that although the CBI is already seized of the controversy, the government has no objection to a court-monitored inquiry.

The petition was filed by Bejon Kumar Misra, a social activist, in a pending public interest litigation (PIL) that sought closing down of unauthorised pathological labs and diagnostic centres in Delhi, alleging that they were being managed by unqualified technicians.

In another application filed through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, the petitioner sought a court-monitored probe supervised by a former judge of the high court into the allegations of fake laboratory tests being conducted at mohalla clinics in Delhi.

“In this respect, it is submitted that the recent scam unearthed startling fact that in August 2023, it was found that some doctors and staff and seven mohalla clinics in south west Shahdara and north east districts were resorting to unethical practices to fraudulently mark their attendance through pre-recorded videos….,” the petition said, PTI reported.

Earlier, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had recommended a CBI probe into the allegations of fake pathological tests in Delhi.