-1- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH ... Date of Decision: March 13,2008. Darshan Singh Rai ... Petitioner VERSUS Union of India and others ... Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA. HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MOHINDER PAL. 1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? Present: Mr. Ravi Badyal, Advocate, for the petitioner. Ms. Renu Bala Sharma, Central Government Standing Counsel , for the respondents. -.- MOHINDER PAL, J. Claim in the present writ petition is for issuing a direction to the respondents to reimburse the petitioner the medical expenses of Rs.2,12,615/- incurred by him to undergo -2- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. by-pass surgery of heart from Escorts Heart & Research Institute, New Delhi (hereinafter referred to as ` Escorts Hospital'). The petitioner retired as Commandant from the Border Security Force (hereinafter referred to as the `B.S.F') on February 28,1990. He is getting fixed medical allowance of Rs.100/- per month along with his pension. The Central Government Health Scheme (hereinafter referred to as `CGHS') is also provided to the serving and retired employees of the B.S.F like other Central Government employees. However, the CGHS facility is not available at Ludhiana where the petitioner is residing. In the year 2001, the petitioner suffered heart problem and took treatment from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (hereinafter referred to as `A.I.I.M.S'). In April 2001, he underwent angiography test from A.I.I.M.S, New Delhi which revealed varying degrees of blockages in coronary arteries. In March, 2002 he suffered the problem again and was admitted in Escorts Hospital, New Delhi. He remained admitted in Escorts Hospital from March 06, 2002 to March 13,2002 as an indoor patient. He underwent by-pass surgery in the Escorts Hospital, which is recognized by the Government, and incurred medical expenses of Rs.2,12,615/-. It is been averred in the petition that a Committee headed by the Director General, Border Security Force has powers to sanction financial assistance to the retired B.S.F Personnel for treatment out of welfare fund in rarest of rare cases and heart disease falls in this category. He submitted the detailed bills for the said -3- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. amount to the respondents for reimbursement vide his application dated June 19, 2002 (Annexure P-2). When no action was taken by the respondents, he sent reminder dated February 28, 2003 (Annexure P-3), but in vain. The petitioner then wrote letter dated April 21, 2003 (Annexure P-4) to the Director of Grievances, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, New Delhi, for redressal of his grievance, but no action was taken thereon. Hence, this writ petition. In the written statement filed by the respondents, it has been pleaded that as per the provisions contained in the Central Services (Medical Attendance) Rules, 1944 (for short `the Rules'), the pensioners who are not residing in the areas covered by the Dispensaries of CGHS are entitled to medical allowance at the rate of Rs.100/- per month. It has been pleaded that the petitioner was drawing Rs.100/- per month as medical allowance because he did not become beneficiary of CGHS for the reasons best known to him. It has been further pleaded that the pensioners, who are getting Rs.100/- per month as medical allowance, have the option to get their names registered with any of the dispensaries under CGHS covered cities for indoor hospitalization irrespective of the fact whether they are residing in the city or not as per instructions contained in Annexure R-5. The petitioner neither got himself registered with any such dispensary nor surrendered his medical allowance of Rs.100/- per month although CGHS facilities are available at Chandigarh and Delhi. As such, he is not entitled to the relief -4- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. claimed in this writ petition. It has been submitted that though a Committee headed by Director General, B.S.F, has powers to sanction financial assistance to the retired personnel for treatment out of welfare fund in rarest of rare cases, but case of the petitioner does not fall in this category as he retired as Commandant with sound financial position. We have heard Mr. Ravi Badyal, Advocate, appearing for the petitioner and Ms. Renu Bala Sharma, Central Government Standing Counsel, appearing for the respondents and have gone through the records of the case. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that the petitioner cannot be deprived of medical reimbursement on account of his hospitalization in Escorts Hospital, New Delhi, merely on the ground that he is getting fixed medical allowance of Rs.100/- per month. According to the learned counsel, the fixed medical allowance of Rs.100/- is given to the employees/pensioners for treatment from Out Patient Department (for short `OPD') and when an employee is hospitalized he is entitled to full reimbursement of medical expenses for the period he remains hospitalized. For getting best treatment for his heart ailment, the petitioner had got himself admitted in Escorts Hospital, New Delhi, a famous hospital for treatment of heart diseases. He further argued that while dealing with human problems, the authorities are not supposed to act with mathematical precision. In support of his argument, learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on -5- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. the following decisions:- (i)Bodu Ram Jat v. State of Rajasthan and others, 2006 (5) SLR 705; (ii)State of Punjab and others v. Mohinder Singh Chawla etc., AIR 1997 Supreme Court 1225; (iii)Consumer Education and Research Centre and others v. Union of India and others, AIR 1995 Supreme Court 922; (iv)Surjit Singh v. State of Punjab and others, AIR 1996 Supreme Court 1388; (v)Surjit Kumar Kalia v. State of Punjab and others, 1996 (4) SLR 177; (vi)Ravi Mohan Duggal v. State of Punjab and others, 1995 (3) RSJ 399; (vii)Md.Ahad Raza and others v. State of Bihar and others, 2007 Labour and Industrial Cases 2901; and (viii)Surender Kumar v. Union of India and others, 2008 (1) SLR 120. On the other hand, argument of learned counsel for the respondents is that as the petitioner did not get himself registered with any dispensary under the CGHS and did not surrender his medical allowance of Rs.100/- per month although CGHS facilities are available at Chandigarh and Delhi, he is not -6- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. entitled to the reimbursement of medical expenses incurred for his treatment of heart ailment from Escorts Hospital, New Delhi. The State cannot refuse reimbursement of the expenditure incurred by a Government servant for it is the bona fide duty of the Government to pay for the beneficial act of an employee as it is Welfare State. All the rules and regulations are to be considered in favour of the Government employee liberally and to his benefit. The State cannot be permitted to have an iron heart in such matters. It is not the plea of the respondents that the petitioner has not incurred the expenditure on his treatment. It is being noticed by this Court that quite often writ petitions are filed to obtain redress in the matter of reimbursement of medical expenses particularly by those who have retired from service, which is a sad commentary on the working style of the concerned departments and particularly of the head of those departments who must own responsibility for the indifference and delays in this regard. In the present context, we may refer to the Nabhi's Compendium of Orders under Central Government Health Scheme where texts of various orders passed by the Central Government have been incorporated. At page 206 of this book, text of DOP & PW. O.M. No.45/57/97-P & OW dated December 19, 1997 has been given which is as under:- “ The undersigned is directed to state that in pursuance of Government's decision -7- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. on the recommendations of the 5th Central Pay Commission announced in this Department's resolution No.45/86/97-P & P.W. (A) dated 30-9-1977, sanction of the President is hereby accorded to the grant of fixed medical allowance @ Rs.100 p.m to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners/residing in areas not covered by Central Government Health Scheme administered by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and corresponding Health Schemes administered by other Ministries / Departments for their retired employees for meeting expenditure on day-to-day medical expenses that do not require hospitalization.” A perusal of the above text makes it clear that fixed medical allowance @ Rs.100/- p.m is given to the Central Government pensioners residing in areas not covered by CGHS for meeting day-to-day medical expenses which do not require hospitalization. Therefore, as the petitioner was getting fixed medical allowance of Rs.100/- per month for meeting day-to-day medical expenses that do not require hospitalization, he is entitled to reimbursement of medical expenses for his heart -8- Civil Writ Petition No.11494 of 2007. ailment for which he remained hospitalized in Escorts Hospital, New Delhi, and had to undergo by-pass surgery. For the aforesaid reasons, this writ petition is allowed and the respondents are directed to reimburse the medical expenses incurred by the petitioner during his treatment in Escorts Hospital, New Delhi, equal to the rates of A.I.I.M.S, New Delhi. ( HEMANT GUPTA ) ( MOHINDER PAL ) JUDGE JUDGE March 13, 2008. ak