Case Title: Shashank Deo Sudhi V. Union of India & Ors.
The Supreme Court amended its previous judgement which mandated that COVID-19 testing be performed for free in both public and commercial laboratories.
The Court ruled that individuals who qualify for free testing under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana, which the Government of India has already put into effect, as well as any other category of economically disadvantaged groups of society, will be able to receive free testing for COVID-19.
Additionally, the Court issued the following directives:-
People who have the financial means to pay the testing price set by the ICMR may nevertheless be charged for the COVID-19 test by private labs.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India may create the required regulations for the cost-reimbursement of the free COVID-19 testing performed by private labs as well as the appropriate mechanisms to cover costs and pay the private labs.
The Court referred to the Centre in determining whether any further categories of the less fortunate members of society should also be eligible for free testing.
In response to a petition submitted by Dr Kaushal Kant, who claimed that the directive for free testing will have an impact on the operation of private labs, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat issued the amended decision. The Court modified the judgement since free testing was already in place for one group of persons, namely those insured by the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana. The Centre agreed with the order's amendment.
No matter their financial situation, everybody may receive free testing at one of the 157 government laboratories, according to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's submission. The State's "limited resources," the Solicitor General said, and the potential length of the COVID-19 battle was also addressed.
Speaking on behalf of multiple laboratories, senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi said that the ICMR set a low fee of Rs. 4,500 to cover the costs of the labs conducting the COVID-19 test. He claimed that about 50 crore beneficiaries—or 10.7 crore poor and vulnerable families—were covered by the Ayushman Bharat Yojana and qualified for free COVID-19 testing at private laboratories.
According to the affidavit submitted by ICMR, all private laboratories would be exempt from charging for COVID-19 testing in accordance with a direction issued by the National Health Authority under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana.
A PIL brought by Shashank Deo Sudhi, who contested the government's decision to set the price of COVID-19 testing in private laboratories at Rs 4500, resulted in the decision to grant free testing. On this occasion, the Court had made the observation that the right of private labs to be reimbursed for the expenses they spent may be taken into consideration at a later time.
The petitioner had argued that allowing private labs to charge Rs. 4500 for screening and confirmation tests of COVID-19 at this time of national calamity may not be within means of a significant portion of the population of this country. The bench had stated that it found "prima facie substance" in that argument.