New Delhi: The Supreme Court, Monday, directed the states to file compliance reports with respect to the directions issued by the apex court regarding treatment of Covid-19 patients and dignified handling of bodies at the hospitals.
A three-judge bench of SC comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah granted two weeks’ time to the state governments to file the compliance reports.
The bench observed that an affidavit filed on behalf of the Union government does have the details of compliance of the directions.
“Mere direction to comply with the directions is not enough. The steps taken towards compliance of the directions have to be brought on the record,” the bench said.
The apex court asked the chief secretaries of the states to file an appropriate compliance report.
“The state governments/ Union Territories have not filed affidavits giving details of compliance of various directions issued by this court June 19, 2020. We are of the view that the Chief Secretaries of the states have to take steps to ensure that directions issued by this court in order dated June 19, 2020 are complied with. An appropriate compliance report be filed. We grant two weeks’ time to the states/UTs to file an appropriate compliance affidavit,” the bench said.
The SC also asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks giving the details of the compliance of the directions issued by the court.
Notably, the apex court had June 19 directed the Centre to constitute an expert committee to inspect and supervise all the government hospitals. The court had also asked the governments to prescribe reasonable fees for Covid-19 treatment and also install CCTV cameras in all Covid dedicated hospitals. The apex court had issued 11 directions regarding treatment of Covid-19 patients.