Some North Indian States not declaring cancer as notifiable disease: Supreme Court informed

Some North Indian States with high tobacco and alcohol consumption are unwilling to declare cancer as a notifiable disease, the Supreme Court was told on Monday [Anurag Srivastava v. Union of India and Ors.].

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was hearing a plea seeking uniform reporting of cancer cases across the country.

Advocate Gaurav Bansal, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that nationwide data on cancer cases was necessary for the National Cancer Registry to plan treatment and identify areas requiring greater screening.

“The North Indian States who have tobacco and alcohol, they are not willing to notify it. As far as the uniform plan is concerned, because the data is needed by the National Cancer Registry, and then they will plan how to treat and where to do more screening and all those things,” submitted Bansal.

The plea was filed by former AIIMS doctor Dr Anurag Srivastava seeking directions to the Centre and States to declare cancer a notifiable disease and establish a centralised, real-time digital cancer registry. The plea has sought mandatory reporting of cancer cases so that more comprehensive data can be used for early detection, treatment planning and allocation of healthcare resources.

The issue came up before the Court after a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare recommended that cancer be declared a notifiable disease across all States and Union Territories.

The Committee had held that systematic reporting would generate real-time data, strengthen surveillance and help in developing region-specific strategies and allocating resources.

In August, the Supreme Court had asked the 19 States and Union Territories that had not yet notified cancer to consider doing so.

The Court had noted that 17 of the 36 States and Union Territories had already notified cancer as a notifiable disease and called for a uniform policy on mandatory reporting.

The Court directed the remaining States and Union Territories to consider the Parliamentary Committee's recommendations and file compliance affidavits.

During Monday's hearing, Additional Solicitor General Anil Kaushik told the Court that the existing portal for reporting cancer cases was functional.

“The portal is still existing. It's working. It's being reported,” said Kaushik.

“It's effective,” he added after CJI Kant asked whether the portal was working.

The petitioner's counsel referred to the position taken by Punjab, where the government subsequently declared cancer a notifiable disease in July 2026, requiring healthcare institutions covered by the State notification to maintain cancer records and report diagnosed and treated cases.

However, many north Indian States were yet to do so, he said.

During the hearing, counsel also pointed out that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had inadvertently not been made a party to the proceedings.

“Due to oversight, Jammu and Kashmir has not been added as parties,” counsel said.

CJI Kant then said,

“Meanwhile, Union of India may take an appropriate step. Let J&K be added as a party.”

The Court then adjourned the matter.

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