The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with a Bombay High Court order quashing the Maharashtra government notifications regulating the rates chargeable by private hospitals and nursing homes to non-Covid patients. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and M R Shah said it is not going to interfere with the high court order as the state government cannot issue such notifications. At the outset, advocate Rahul Chitnis, appearing for the Maharashtra government, said the state has filed an appeal against the October 23, last year order of the high court quashing the notifications relating to capping of price of treatment for non-Covid patients.

The bench said that it cannot issue such notifications at the time when the State government itself does not have necessary infrastructure to treat non-Covid patients at government hospitals. `Non-Covid patients are bound to move to private hospitals when you don`t have necessary infrastructure. Sorry, we will not interfere,` the bench said. On October 23, last year, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had said the Maharashtra government does not have powers to frame any law or issue any notification regulating the rates chargeable by private hospitals and nursing homes to non-Covid patients.