SHIVANI KAUSHIK Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) We have heard learned counsel for the parties at length.

(2.) We need not advert to the settled position of law that the right to health, including access to basic medical infrastructure, is a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which the State is duty-bound to provide.

(3.) Article 21 imposes an obligation on the State to safeguard the right to life of every person. Preservation of human life is thus of paramount importance. The government hospitals run by the State and the medical officers employed therein are duty-bound to extend medical assistance for preserving human life. Failure on the part of a government hospital to provide timely medical treatment to a person in need of such treatment results in a violation of his right to life guaranteed under Article 21. [Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v. State of W.B., (1996) 4 SCC 37]