NIRMAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The prayer of the petitioner in this writ petition is to direct the respondents to reimburse the pending medical bills, submitted by him and further to reimburse his medical expenses incurred by him as outdoor patient after his discharge from the hospital.

(2.) The only argument advanced by the counsel for the petitioner is that the instant writ petition is fully covered by the decision rendered by this Court Ravi Kant v. The State of Haryana and others, 1998 4 SCT 614 , in which it has been held as under :-

(3.) The above observations made in Ravi Kant's case fully cover the present writ petition. The Counsel for the respondents has not been able to point out any distinguishing feature in this case. Therefore, there is no reason for me to take a different view. Hence, the respondents are directed to reimburse the petitioner the amount of his pending bills within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. It is, however, clarified that the medical expenses incurred by him as outdoor patient will be reimbursed to him only if it is certified by his authorised medical attendant that the said treatment is absolutely necessary for keeping him alive and there is no other substitute for the medicines he is getting for his treatment. The directions already given by this Court in Civil Writ Petition No. 10473 of 2000 filed by the petitioner are left undisturbed.