Supreme Court agrees to hear plea seeking upper limit on COVID-19 treatment cost

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an upper limit on fees that can be charged by private hospitals across the country for treatment of coronavirus patients.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and also comprising Justices MR Shah and V Ramasubramanian also asked the Central government to file its response on the PIL, filed by one Avishek Goenka, within a week.

The apex court asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the PIL to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure that the law officer of the Centre can take proper instructions from the government on the matter, and fixed it for further hearing after one week.

The petitioner, Avishek Goenka, had approached the top court seeking directions to appropriate authorities for an upper limit on fees that can be charged by private hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.