Home / Health / Court Slams 'Insensitive' Haryana Govt on Teacher's Medical Reimbursement
Court Slams 'Insensitive' Haryana Govt on Teacher's Medical Reimbursement
23 Oct
Summary
- High court rebuked Haryana's denial of medical reimbursement as unsustainable.
- Teacher's leg amputation due to gangrene was deemed medically necessary.
- Court ordered full reimbursement with interest for the retired teacher.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court strongly criticized the Haryana government's handling of a retired teacher's medical reimbursement claim. The teacher, who underwent leg amputation due to gangrene following an accident, was denied full payment by state officials.
Officials rejected the claim based on the Civil Surgeon's opinion that the treatment was not an emergency and the hospital was not empanelled. The High Court found this reasoning to be "unduly technical, highly insensitive and legally unsustainable."
The court noted that amputation is a grave procedure often necessary to preserve life. It ruled that medical reimbursement cannot be denied solely because treatment was at a non-empanelled hospital if genuinely necessary.
Preservation of human life, protected under Article 21, must be the highest priority. The state has an obligation to ensure timely medical care, and denying reimbursement based on hospital empanelment is unfair.
Allowing the retired teacher's petition, the High Court directed the Haryana government to pay the remaining medical reimbursement, with 6% annual interest from the petition's filing date.
