Laying emphasis on the urgency of increased testing for novel coronavirus, the Supreme Court today directed the government to issue directions to approved testing laboratories for conducting COVID-19 tests free of cost.
This comes hours after the top court suggested that the Centre should create a mechanism wherein private laboratories did not charge exorbitant fees from public and government should reimburse the fees charged by labs.
The apex court also ordered that such tests be conducted only in NABL accredited labs or agencies approved by the World Health Organization or the ICMR. The court raised questions on the feasibility of tests that were being charged Rs 4,500 by private labs.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and S. Ravindra Bhat, agreed with the petitioner that permitting private labs to charge ₹4,500 for screening and confirmation of COVID-19 may make it unaffordable to a large section of India’s population, and individuals cannot be denied their right to test themselves for COVID-19 because of lack of money.
The court said COVID-19 tests must be carried out only in National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-accredited Labs, or any agency approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) or Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
On March 31, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre and authorities concerned to provide free testing facilities for COVID-19 to all citizens in the country.
The petitioner, advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, had challenged 7 March advisory issued by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that set a price of ₹4,500 for screening and confirming COVID-19 cases by private labs.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta justified the ICMR advisory, saying that private labs had to be involved because the 15,000 tests being done by 118 government labs were not sufficient. Mehta added that the government has involved 47 private laboratory chains since it is unclear how many will be needed and for how long.
The Supreme Court observed in its order that “private hospitals, including laboratories, have an important role to play in containing the scale of a pandemic by extending philanthropic services in the hour of national crisis.”
The judges remarked in their order that “in spite of various measures being taken by the government of India and different State government/Union Territory, the number of patients and death caused by it is increasing day by day.”
The petitioner has also sought a direction to the authorities for ramping up the testing facilities for COVID-19 at the earliest “given the escalating mortality and morbidity rate across the country”.
