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Hospital is an industry, rules Delhi high court

In a significant ruling, the Delhi high court has said a hospital is an industry and should be governed by the Industrial Employment Act.

Rejecting Indraprastha Medical Corporation Ltd's (Apollo Hospital) recent petition challenging a notification by the City Government to it about applicability of Industrial Employment (Standing Order) Act, 1946, Justice Vikramjit Sen said: "It will be anomalous that a hospital which is undeniably an 'industry' is held not to be an industrial establishment."

The court directed the Apollo Hospital to file with the Certifying Authority of Delhi government relevant documents as had been demanded by it through a letter on July 11 last year to place before it management's standing order, which governs its relations with the employees.

The hospital management had challenged the notification on the ground that hospitals were not covered under the Government's Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act.

Rejecting the contention of Apollo's counsel, Justice Sen said "In my opinion it must be kept foremost in mind that the hospital is avowedly an industry and that if it was to be excluded from being considered as an industrial establishment, the onus of making good the exclusion only rested with the petitioneer (management)."

The court said, since the hospital had made no effort in this direction, "hence the need to explore whether the onus has been satisfactorily discharged, does not arise."

Upholding the Government notification, the court said "there is no legal infirmity in the order."

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