The court emphasized that the constitution of special pay wards does not imply a policy to charge the poor for treatment, and personal interests of petitioners should be scrutinized in public interest litigations.

S.J. Mukhopadhaya,J.

This Writ Petition in public interest, has been preferred by the petitioner-in-person to direct the respondent to discontinue the system of pay wards in the Government Hospitals at Chennai.

2. The petitioner is the Managing Director of a firm, manufacturing scientific instruments used for research and development. He claims to be the Founder Trustee and Convenor of one or other non-government organisation for the benefit of public in general.

3. On appearance, the petitioner-in-person delivered long lecture on the sufferings of poor and their treatment in the Government Hospitals, and then attacked the Governments policy to have the pay wards in the Government Hospitals at Chennai. It is informed that in January 2008, the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Tamil Nadu opened special pay wards in the General Hospitals and operating such wards in Gastroenterology Department in Government Stanley Hospital, Chennai, Special Class Maternity Wards in Government Women and Children Hospital, Egmore, Chennai and Kasturibai Gandhi Government Hospital, Triplicane, Chennai for the past few years. Against such a decision, the petitioner claims to have expressed his opinion through Media, mentioning the harm being caused to the under-privileged and poor sections of the Society.

4. It was also submitted by the petitioner that India being a poorest nation in the World, is burdened with innumerable communicable and non-communicable diseases and nutritional deficiencies and our public health delivery system has not been able to deliver the quality and efficient service to the poor and marginalised persons. The track record of the Government, in terms of a providing quality medical, primary health care and education is extremely poor in comparison with the developing nations in the World. It was further submitted that India is one of the lowest Governmental investment nations in primary health and indoor-patient medical care compared with all other developing countries and some of the poorest nations. It is an uphill task to catch-up the countries with China, Brazil etc. Of the total population, only 3.5% who are the Government staff and industrial workers, is covered by the health insurance.

5. In the Writ Petition, certain data are not supported by any evidence. According to the petitioner, more than 34% of our population is below-poverty-line (BPL) who are suffering from deprivation and the Central Government has still managed to provide a budget of Rs.96,000 crores in the current financial year for Defence; but only a sum of Rs.15,000 crores for Health. As per the Website of the Tamil Nadu Government, the total number of beds in the Government Hospitals put together is 21,285. If approximate population of the State is taken as 6.2 crores, 3.4% beds are available for 10,000 population. It was submitted that the poor will suffer and marginalised will be left to the mercy of private medical practitioners and private hospitals, whose motive is commerce first and service the least/last.

6. It was further submitted that the Government has tried to justify the special pay wards on the ground that they will provide quality treatment on par with the private hospitals like Appollo Hospitals, etc., at half a cost of it. According to the petitioner, there are basic flaws in this approach as poor and the middle class cannot pay for even such cost, without resorting to borrowing and selling of assets.

7. In the typed set of papers filed along with the Writ Petition, while reports of the newspapers published in the New Indian Express, the Hindu etc., have been extracted, a copy of the Government Notification regarding the pay wards has not been enclosed therein, except a Government Order of the year 2003, in G.O.Ms.No.94, Health and Family Welfare (E1) Department, dated 15. 2003, indicating the ratification and revision of the rates of one Hospital or the other. In the absence of any such Gove