Implement SC order on providing Covid test reports directly to patients or relatives: Bombay HC to civic body

According to circular, private labs should first share the report of a positive patient with BMC and only if a patient tests negative, can the report be shared directly with him or her. Even the results of the tests conducted in hospitals by private labs will have to be shared with BMC first, the circular had added. However, the Supreme Court Friday had asked the lawyer representing the Maharashtra government before it to advise the state to issue an appropriate order permitting handing over of Covid-19 test reports directly to the patients or their family members.

On Saturday, senior advocate Anil Sakhare, appearing for BMC, challenged the maintainability of Mishra’s plea and said that the issue concerned the well-being of the general public and should have been filed as a public interest litigation. The BMC also submitted that the decision was taken to ensure better bed management and as on June 18, Mumbai has 18,294 bed for the infected, of which 5,424 are unoccupied.

Mishra’s lawyers Amogh Singh and Jeet Gandhi said that since BMC was not made a party to the case before the Supreme Court, its order was not applicable to the civic body and sought appropriate order from the HC.

Following this, the HC noted that the top court, in its order, had said that “it had no doubt that the states and all concerned authorities shall supply a copy of the report to the patient or his or her relatives and the hospital”. In view of this, the HC, while disposing the plea, refused to pass any orders and asked the BMC to abide by the SC direction.