PITCHIAH Vs. LISIC HOSPITAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The prayer in the Original Petition is to declare that the termination of petitioners services as Casualty Medical Officer by the respondents is illegal, void, non est and inoperative. The respondents are Lisie Hospital Ernakulam and its Directors. Prima facie there cannot be any doubt that the respondents are not amenable to the writ jurisdiction of this Court under Art.226 of the Constitution of India. Learned counsel for the petitioner vehemently argued that in view of the latest trend in the case law laid down by the Supreme Court and the English courts, the jurisdiction of this Court under Art.226 has been widened so as to rope in institutions like the respondents. The learned counsel cited the decision relating to educational institutions reported in Shri. Anadi Mukta Sadguru S.M. V.S.J.M.S. Trust v. V.R. Rudani ( AIR 1989 SC 1607 ) and also the latest ruling of the Supreme Court in AIR 1998 SC 295 (Krishnamacharyalu v. Sri. V.H. College of Engineering). But I do not think that the above decisions can be helpful to the petitioner because there the imparting of education has been held to be public duty and therefore, the educational institutions in those cases, which are also subject to certain Government control have been held to be amenable to the writ jurisdiction to the Court.

(2.) But in this case Lisie Hospital is not performing any such public duty. Still the learned counsel argued that the Supreme Court has held that it is duty of the doctors to extend medical assistance and it is also part of the Art.21 of the Constitution. (Please See PT Paramanand Katara v. Union of India and Others ( 1989 (4) SCC 286 ).

(3.) Learned counsel also relied on Art.47 of the Constitution of India which reads as follows: