Agreeing with the petitioner that hospitals cannot treat the quarantine period with leaves, Solicitor General Mehta told the court that the government would look into the matter and ensure that such things do not take place.
On Friday, the Apex court expressed unhappiness at the delay in disbursing salaries to health workers and ordered the Central Government to ensure that the salaries of the frontline health workers engaged in the Covid-19 struggle are paid out on time.
Representing the government in court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that, according to an Indian Express article, following orders given by the central government, four states refused to comply with the order and did not pay the salaries.
Mehta said the state of Maharashtra, Punjab, Tripura, and Karnataka were the states that did not pay the health workers ' salaries. The bench responded to Mehta 's argument that the central government was not powerless and had to ensure that its orders were followed.
"Don't feel powerless. You have to make sure that your order is put into effect. You have rights under the Disaster Management Act, too. You can also take action, "Mehta told Justice M. R. Shah. A top court three-judge bench, namely Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy, and M R Shah, was hearing the case.
Taking note of one of the petitions submitted by the United Resident Doctors Association (URDA) alleging that some hospitals handled the quarantine time of health workers on a par with leaves and withheld health workers ' salaries, the court asked the central government to investigate the matter. Agreeing with the petitioner that hospitals are unable to treat with leaves the quarantine period, Solicitor General Mehta told the court that the government should look into the matter and ensure that these incidents did not happen.
The court was hearing a petition from Dr. Arushi Jain who had objected to the government's May 15 notification that the 14-day quarantine was not mandatory for doctors. Solicitor General Mehta told the court that the government will amend its notification and that the doctors and other health workers will be given a full quarantine period. The SC will consider the matter now on 10 August.
Earlier the top court issued directions to the central government on June 17 to ask all states and territories of the Union to disburse health workers ' salaries. This had also said that the infringement of the Directive must be regarded as an offense read with provisions of the Indian Penal Code under the Disaster Management Act. The question had come to the Supreme Court after a doctor had filed a PIL.