Delhi high court notices to cops over firm collecting samples for Covid test without licence

The high court was informed by Delhi government counsel that a complaint was made by the Delhi Health Department to the Commissioners of Delhi Police and Gurgaon Police against one entity identified by it which had violated the Covid-19 norms by illegally collecting samples for coronavirus tests, including RT-PCR.

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought to know from the city and Haryana police as to what action they have taken on a complaint by the city government regarding an online health service aggregator allegedly collecting samples for Covid-19 tests without license.

Passengers being tested for Covid at a Delhi railway station. The Delhi high court has issued notices to Delhi and Haryana police over a petition which alleged that a private firm was collecting samples for Covid tests such as RT-PCR without licence. (AFP)

Justice Najmi Waziri, while issuing notices to the police of both the states, asked them to file their replies within two weeks.

“You can’t have people being cheated by entities who are not even licensed to carry out these tests,” the court said and said that it is open for the government to identify more such private laboratories which are conducting Covid-19 tests without licenses.

The high court was informed by Delhi government counsel that a complaint was made by the Delhi Health Department to the Commissioners of Delhi Police and Gurgaon Police against one entity identified by it which had violated the Covid-19 norms by illegally collecting samples for coronavirus tests, including RT-PCR.

The court was hearing a plea seeking contempt action against the authorities for not adhering to the Delhi High Court’s earlier direction to take action against online health service aggregators which are operating illegally and collecting samples for Covid-19 tests.

On Tuesday, the city government informed the court that the entity was found in violation of the confidentiality and privacy law by sharing patient’s information as stated on its website. The counsel said that though the complaint was made on June 24, they have not received any response or update from the two police departments.

When the court asked as to whose responsibility it is to monitor the online health service aggregators, the Centre’s counsel said Delhi government was responsible for it while the state government’s advocate said it was not fully its responsibility and it was not that the state was sitting idle and doing nothing.

To this, the court said the approach is not correct and “it is like a baby is delivered but nobody is ready to take care of it”.

The ICMR, in its affidavit filed in response to the petition, has said that National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certification is must for enrolment of private labs for Covid-19 testing and NABL certifies the readiness of labs to undertake molecular testing of SARS-Cov-2 before the research body allows them for testing.

Regarding the online health service aggregators, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said monitoring of their activities does not come under its purview.

The ICMR has said in its affidavit, filed through Central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, that as on August 16, 2021, it has approved 134 (35 government and 99 private) labs in Delhi for RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAAT and other M-NAT testing platforms and the information is also available on its website.

It said the ICMR has laid down SOPs and standard guidance for setting up Covid-19 testing labs and 14 mentor institutes have been set up in India to guide the labs on implementing these SOPs and set up a testing lab.

“For Delhi, the mentor institute is AIIMS, Delhi. NABL certification is must for enrollment of private labs for testing. NABL certifies the readiness of labs to undertake molecular testing of SARS-Cov-2 before ICMR onboards them for testing. Through these parameters, it is ensured that labs meet the statutory standards for Covid-19 testing,” the affidavit said.

A division bench of the high court, on August 6, 2020 had directed the AAP government to take action in accordance with law against online health service aggregators, who are operating illegally without any registration, after hearing all the stakeholders.