LEKHA S. NAIR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner who is working as an UPSA at the KKM Higher Secondary School, Vandithavalam in Chittur Taluk, Palakkad District, had admitted her husband to a hospital in connection with a heart ailment. On account of the seriousness of the ailment, he was advised to undergo treatment at Kovai Medical Centre Hospital, Coimbatore, and accordingly referred to the said hospital for treatment. He was admitted to the said hospital on 28.5.2004, and on examination, he was advised to undergo emergency bypass surgery. Thereafter he was again admitted to the hospital, this time as an inpatient, on 9.6.2004. The surgery was performed on 11.6.2004 and he was discharged from the hospital on 23.6.2004. The issue in this writ petition pertains to the reimbursement of medical expenses, incurred by the petitioner, in connection with the hospitalisation and surgery undergone by her husband during the aforementioned period.

(2.) THE grant of reimbursement to the petitioner is governed by the Kerala Government Servants' Medical Attendance Rules, 1960 as modified by Ext. P11 Government Order dated 4.12.1993, Ext. P10 Government Order dated 18.2.1997 and Ext. P9 Government Order dated 17.1.2007. As per Ext. P10 Government Order, it is made clear that there will not be a ban for referring patients to a centre outside the State for taking treatment for the diseases listed in Appendix I to the said Government Order as there is a long waiting list and considerable delay at the centres in Kerala. In the Appendix to the said Government Order, coronary artery bypass surgery is mentioned as one of the diseases for which a patient can be taken to a centre outside the State. By Ext. P9 Government Order dated 17.1.2001, the Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital Limited, Coimbatore, to which the petitioner's husband was referred, is also listed as referral centre for cardiology and cardiovascular surgery for the purposes of the Medical Attendance Rules referred to above.

(3.) EXT . P7 order, to the extent it rejects the request for medical reimbursement, is challenged in the writ petition.