The Madras High Court on Monday directed the State government to file its counter to a writ petition preferred by chairman of DD Medical College and Hospital, on the Chennai-Tirupati national highway, seeking ₹367.40 crore for having used its 3,000 bed facility to treat COVID-19 patients from April 1, 2020 to March 1, 2021 following a request made by the district administration.
Justice Abdul Quddhose directed State Government Pleader V. Jayaprakash Narayanan to take notice and file a counter affidavit by April 16. The petitioner’s counsel, A. Saravanan, told the court that the proposal for using the hospital to treat COVID-19 patients came from the revenue officials and the management accepted it. The government had also upgraded it into a corona emergency care centre.
However, now, all medical equipment, tools, beds and even pillow covers have to be replaced besides whitewashing the entire hospital and sanitising it. Claiming that the institution would collapse and would not be able to come back to its full operational capacity if the remedial works were not undertaken, he insisted that the government should be directed to pay the claim of ₹367.40 crore.
When the judge wanted to know whether the government had entered into any agreement with the hospital for making the payment, the counsel replied in the negative. He contended that the government was bound to pay the money as per Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and Section 66 of the Disaster Management Act of 2005.
