The Supreme Court has quashed a criminal case against Narayana Health and others over allegations that the hospital had wrongly charged ₹2,500 for a diagnostic test that was never conducted [Narayana Health Vs State of West Bengal].
In a judgment delivered on May 12, a Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe held that the dispute was essentially over billing and supply of medical records and did not disclose any criminal offence.
The Court said that the allegation of cheating was “completely misplaced” since the hospital had offered to refund the amount after the error was pointed out.
“The discrepancy in billing appears to be more of an inadvertence, than a case of dishonest intention on part of the hospital,” the Court observed.
The case arose from a complaint filed by a man whose mother, Bina Sen, was admitted to Narayana Multi-specialty Hospital in Kolkata's Barasat on February 13, 2021 for treatment of a fractured right femur bone.
She underwent surgery on February 15 and was discharged on February 19. The complainant paid ₹1,71,130 towards treatment expenses against a billed amount of around ₹1.94 lakh after discounts.
He later alleged that the hospital had charged ₹2,500 for an HRCT test which was not conducted. He also claimed that medical records were not supplied promptly and that hospital personnel misbehaved with him when he raised objections.
A criminal complaint was then filed alleging offences of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code along with provisions of the West Bengal Clinical Establishments Act, 2017.
A Magistrate issued summons against Narayana Health, the hospital, its Chairman and hospital staff. The Calcutta High Court later set aside the summons and remanded the matter to the Magistrate to reconsider the complicity of those residing outside its territorial jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court, however, found that the High Court should have quashed the complaint altogether.
On criminal breach of trust, the Court said there was no allegation that the ₹2,500 had been entrusted to the hospital for any fiduciary or trust-based purpose.
It also noted that the hospital had offered to refund the amount after the mistake was pointed out.
On cheating, the Court held that there must be dishonest intention from the very beginning.
In the present case, the complaint merely alleged that the bill reflected a charge for a test that was not performed.
The Court also rejected the allegation of criminal conspiracy, holding that there was nothing to show any prior agreement or meeting of minds among the accused.
The Court noted that the 2017 Act provides a mechanism to deal with grievances concerning patient care, billing irregularities, non-supply of records and service deficiencies.
“Without even indicating as to how and in which manner the criminal offence has been committed, it is not permissible for the complainant to proceed with prosecution by just mentioning Section 34 in the complaint,” the Court said.
Therefore, the Court allowed the appeals filed by Narayana Health and others and quashed the criminal complaint.
Senior Advocate Nidhesh Gupta with advocates Shivendra Singh, Bikram Dwivedi, Prakriti Rastogi and Aryaman Singh Rajput appeared for Narayana Health.
Since no one appeared for the complainant, the Court appointed Senior Advocate Gagan Gupta as amicus curiae.
He was assisted by advocates Abhinay Sharma, Kirti Vyas and Kartik Rajpurohit.
[Read Judgment]