Point of Law: It is settled legal position that Government employee during his life time or after his retirement is entitled to get benefit of medical facilities and no fetters can be placed on his rights. It is acceptable to commonsence, that ultimate decision as to how a patient should be treated vests only with Doctor, who is well versed and expert both on academic qualification and experience gained. Very little scope is left to patient or his relative to decide as to the manner in which ailment should be treated.

ORDER :

(PER : HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE SONIA GOKANI)

1. This is a petition preferred questioning the order dated 11.09.2019 passed in Original Application No.356 of 2018 by the Central Administrative Tribunal (‘the CAT’ for short), Ahmedabad Bench allowing medical bills of the respondent in the following factual background.

1.1 The respondent was superannuated on 30.11.2016 from the post of Senior Audit Officer from the office of petitioner No.2 and he continued to stay at Rajkot with his wife. The wife of the respondent was detected with advance stage of cancer of anal canal. She was required to undergo the medical treatment. The respondent being the beneficiary under the Civil Services (Medical Attendance) Rules, 1944 ('the Rules' for short) was entitled to the reimbursement of the medical bills. His wife was referred to Aaruni Hospital Rajkot by Authorised Medical Attendant (the ‘AMA’ for short) for emergency treatment and for her anal canal cancer, she underwent the Chemo-Therapy Radiation and during the treatment she passed away on 09.07.2017 after being in Coma for nearly 45 days in the hospital itself.

1.2 The case of the respondent before the CAT was that there was no referral hospital in Rajkot recognised for beneficiaries of the Rules for cancer treatment and therefore, he applied for permission of petitioner No.3 for taking treatment from private hospital and also for reimbursement of expenses incurred for Chemo-Therapy Radiation of his wife at Aaruni hospital. The application was allowed partly on the ground that it is a private hospital and therefore, the initial 10 days of treatment can be reimbursed.

Accordingly, the amount reimbursed was Rs.64,280/(Rupees Sixty Four Thousand Two Hundred Eighty Only) and the balance amount of Rs.1,46,220/(Rupees One Lakh Forty Six Thousand Two Hundred Twenty Only) remained unpaid.

1.3 There were five medical bills for treatment taken at Giriraj Multispecialty Hospital which were of the sum of Rs.59,077/(Rupees Fifty Nine Thousand Seventy Seven Only). The amount of Rs.52,157/(Rupees Fifty Two Thousand One Hundred Fifty Seven Only) had been paid against these bills. The grievance on the part of the respondent is that the amount of Rs.1,53,140/(Rupees One Lakh Fifty Three Thousand One Hundred Forty Only) has remained unpaid.

1.4 The departmental appeal also was not entertained and therefore, the respondent moved CAT, Ahmedabad Bench and sought the intervention of the Tribunal in seeking directions against the present petitioners for grant of medical claims and also sought payment of the sum of Rs.1,53,140/(Rupees One Lakh Fifty Three Thousand One Hundred Forty Only) made by the respondent with 12% interest from the date of maturity of claim.

2. The stand on the part of the petitioner before the Tribunal was that it is incorrect that there was no cancer hospital at Rajkot as the Rajkot Cancer Society & Allied Hospital is a recognised hospital for cancer treatment. His appeal was considered on humanitarian grounds. Out of his claim of Rs.59,077/(Rupees Fifty Nine Thousand Seventy Seven Only), Rs.52,157/(Rupees Fifty Two Thousand One Hundred Fifty Seven Only) had been paid. It was again the stand of the petitioner that cancer treatment was available in the recognised hospital, the permission for taking the cancer treatment was not granted to the respondent. Rule 3 of the Rules permitted only first four consultations/visit within the period of 10 days from the commencement of treatment in respect of one single and continuous spell of illness in respect of a particular disease and therefore, the amount has been restricted to Rs.64,380/(Rupees Sixty Four Thousand Three Hundred Eighty Only) for the six bills. It appears that the stand of the respondent was that the patient was referred to the multi specialty hospital by the AMA on emergency and the treatment of Radiation Therapy was administered continuously for 28 days on advice of expert Oncologist. This was reimbursed under Rule 6(1),(2) & 3 of