There should be public interest in politics, not other way round: Karnataka HC

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has observed that the entire fulcrum behind the state government’s order directing the closure of Janaushadhi Kendras on government hospital premises revolved around politics in the delivery of medicines in the name of public interest.

“Therefore, this court is constrained to observe that there should be public interest in politics and not politics in public interest,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said while allowing a batch of petitions by Jagadeesh Mogera and others, challenging the government order.

The petitioners had challenged the legality and propriety of the orders dated May 14, 2025, by the health and family welfare department and August 2, 2025, by the respective administrative medical officers of the respective government hospitals/community health centres.

The petitioners said the primary reason mentioned in the order was that the presence of the Kendra/s within hospital premises impeded the state’s policy of supplying free medicine to patients. It was further contended that the state, in fact, procured medicines from the Kendras for giving them to patients in the hospitals, projecting it that it was given for free.

After perusing the government order, Justice Nagaprasanna said it was unsupported by cogent material and was wholly insufficient to extinguish the rights and expectations painstakingly built over the years.

“Administrative confusion cannot become a licence for administrative caprice. The Kendra/s are established by the Government of India with the avowed objective of providing generic medicine, both cost-effective and quality-effective, which is now wanting to be stonewalled by the state by passing of an order of closure,” the court said.

It said the Kendra/s were handed over pursuant to agreements entered into between the parties.

“The sole reason to close the Kendra/s and direct eviction of these petitioners from the premises is that the state wants to deliver free medicine – yet another slogan of providing a freebie or outside medicine is not allowed inside the hospital,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.

The court said if patients in hospitals were being administered medicine, procuring them from the Kendra/s, it would demonstrate that there were no free medicines available in the hospitals.

The state has not shown that continuation of the Kendra/s is illegal or harmful, it said.

“Therefore, the intent of supply of free medicine (of the state government), appears to be an intent only. The sustained success of these Kendra/s over 5 to 7 years in all these cases speaks volumes. Therefore, continuance of these Kendra/s is in the public interest. The State cannot now throw a spanner in the wheel of smooth functioning of the Kendra/s by the impugned action, which on the face of it, is antithetical to public interest,” the judge said, adding, “public interest must be the soul of governance, not a slogan to justify abrupt policy reversals”.