Delhi High Court: While monitoring the implementation of the NextGen e-Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) and the “ICU Beds Saarthi” application across Delhi Government hospitals, a Division Bench of Prathiba M. Singh* and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, JJ., took serious note of a case where a 70-year-old patient was denied an ICU bed despite the online portal reflecting its availability. Observing that the incident exposed significant deficiencies in the implementation of the HMIS, the accuracy of ICU bed availability data, and the functioning of hospital emergency helplines, the Court directed the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to conduct surprise audits of all 38 Delhi Government hospitals. The Court also directed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to consider establishing a dedicated toll-free emergency helpline, evolve an effective inter-hospital referral mechanism, and ordered an audit of unused medical equipment across all Delhi Government hospitals after finding that a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Cyclotron machine worth ₹15.42 crores had remained non-functional for several years, terming it a gross waste of public resources.
Background
While hearing a matter for a live demonstration of the NextGen HMIS and the “ICU Beds Saarthi” application, it was brought to the Court’s notice the case of Kamar Jahan, a 70-year-old resident of Seelampur, Delhi, who had developed breathing difficulty on 30 June 2026 and was initially examined at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital (LNJP Hospital) and referred to GTB Hospital/LNJP Hospital for an ICU bed. However, upon reaching LNJP Hospital, she was discharged after cursory treatment on the ground that no ICU beds were available. Her granddaughter informed the Court that, at the relevant time, the hospital website reflected the availability of 2 ICU beds, yet the patient was denied admission.
It was further submitted that repeated calls to the emergency contact numbers displayed on the website elicited no effective response, a fact which was also verified by the Court Master, who found the numbers either busy or unanswered. The Court also noted discrepancies in the implementation of the HMIS, observing that while no Unique Health Identification (UHID) had been generated for the patient at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, a UHID had been created at LNJP Hospital, raising concerns regarding the uniform implementation of the system across Delhi Government hospitals.
Analysis
The Court observed that the case of Kamar Jahan, who was denied an ICU bed despite the website reflecting availability, demonstrated that the systems put in place were not being effectively implemented. The Court noted that the emergency contact numbers provided by LNJP Hospital were either unanswered or did not provide any meaningful assistance, and found it unclear how the HMIS was being utilised by different hospitals. It observed that there was a clear disparity in the manner in which the HMIS Platform was being implemented across Delhi Government hospitals and emphasised that there needs to be consistency and uniformity in using the HMIS, along with ensuring that hospital personnel do not turn away patients requiring emergency care. The Court also found that the PET Cyclotron equipment at the Delhi State Cancer Institute, purchased at substantial public expense, had remained non-functional for several years, observing that this amounted to a gross waste of public resources.
Decision
Accordingly, the Court directed:
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NIC, headed by Aarti Garg, Joint Director, to conduct surprise inspections/audits of all 38 Delhi Government hospitals till 31 July 2026 and file an audit report on the accuracy of ICU bed availability data, responsiveness of emergency helplines, and uniform implementation of the NextGen HMIS, while identifying any deficiencies.
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GNCTD to consider establishing a dedicated toll-free emergency helpline with 10—20 lines for real-time information regarding ICU bed availability and hospital specialities, and place its proposal before the Court.
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GNCTD to place on record the existing mechanism for implementing inter-hospital referrals, including whether a nodal officer is responsible for ensuring that referred patients are not turned away, and, if no such mechanism exists, to indicate the steps proposed for its implementation.
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That Kamar Jahan be provided an ICU bed and necessary treatment at LNJP Hospital, with Dr Amit Gupta to file a status report before the next date of hearing.
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Department of Health & Family Welfare, GNCTD to provide all necessary logistical support, including transportation, to the NIC team for conducting the audit, and to bear the expenses incurred for the same.
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All GNCTD hospitals to conduct an audit of all unused medical equipment and machinery purchased by them and file affidavits, in tabular form, through their respective Medical Superintendents before the next date of hearing.
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A copy of the order be communicated to all Medical Superintendents of GNCTD hospitals for compliance.
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Listing of matter for further consideration on 7 August 2026.
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[Court on its own Motion v. Union of India, W.P.(C) 3903 of 2017, decided on 3-7-2026]
*Judgement Authored by: Justice Prathiba M. Singh
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Appellant: Siddharth Aggarwal, Sr.Adv., Vishwajeet Singh Bhati, Ayush Pratap, Vikas Pratap Singh, Rohan Pratap Singh and Devansh Singh, Chirmaya Sywal, Rudra Vikram Singh, Ashirvad Kumar, Tarshith Bhardwaj, Rashmi, Avdhesh Kumar Varshney & Kumar Saurabh Singh Advocates, Ashok Agarwal, Amicus
For the Respondent: Avnish Ahlawat SC GNCTD Services, Arunima Dwivedi, Radhika Bishwajit Dubey, Amit Tiwari, Avshreya Pratap Singh Rudy, CGSC, V. S. R. Krishna, V Shashank Kumar, Nitesh Kumar Singh, Aliza Alam & Mohnish Sehrawat, Ravinder Agarwal, Manish Kumar Singh, Vasu Agarwal, Himanshi Singh, Monalisha Pradhan, Gurleen Kaur Waraich, Kritarth Upadhyay, Amulya Dev Mishra, Rakesh Malhotra, Bharat Malhotra, Gayatri Bhatia, Ayushi Srivastava, Ayush Tanwar, Kushagra Malik, Usha Jamnal, Nyasa Sharma & Ankit Khatri, Advocates Harshita Nathrani, Adv. for Sameer Vashisht, Standing Counsel (Civil) GNCTD with Vinit Saxena AD IT, Prasnat Gupta TO IT, Akash Kumar TO IT, Arti Garg JDIT NIC, Dr Reena Yadav Incharge ICU Bed, Harish, SO legal, H&FW & Manish Sr. Asst. H&FW.
