Covid-19: HC stops KCR govt from stopping ambulances from neighboring states

The Telangana High Court has on Friday stayed a Telangana government-issued notice which effectively barricaded ambulances carrying Covid-19 patients from neighboring states from entering Hyderabad.

The court has also ordered the K Chandrasekhar Rao government not to restrict such ambulance movement through any other means.

The court directions provided a huge relief for scores of Covid-19 patients especially from Andhra Pradesh, who are seeking admissions in the private hospitals of Hyderabad in attempts to save their lives.

Expressing displeasure over the restrictions imposed on the movement of emergency services, the high court bench headed by the chief justice Hima Kohli has reportedly asked the Telangana government, “who gave them the right to stop ambulances?”

The court was hearing a petition filed by a retired IRS official Venkata Krishna Rao challenging the police action constraining the ambulances.

Read | No confirmed bed, no entry: Telangana cops stop Covid-19 patients in ambulances from Andhra Pradesh at borders

In a controversial move, Telangana police from Monday morning onwards began stopping ambulances from Andhra Pradesh ferrying Covid-19 patients to Hyderabad, at the state border points near Kurnool, Kodad.

District superintendents said they have “unwritten instructions” to prevent the patients lacking a reserve bed in Hyderabad from reaching the city.

Responding on the matter, the court had on Tuesday directed the officials not to resort to such obstructions.

However, Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar issued a memo on Tuesday with “guidelines” requiring patients from other states to have prior approval from a hospital, submitted in a prescribed format to a control room.

Telangana government is defending the decision, claiming that the exodus of Covid-19 patients from AP, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh has overburdened Hyderabad health infrastructure and that patients coming from outside were consuming the state's allocation of oxygen and medicines.

Dozens of patients, some in critical condition, were turned away in the past few days from the AP-Telangana borders. In some instances, patient attendants waiting at the border check posts complained that the control room call centre was unresponsive and that despite possessing a bed confirmation, they were denied entry into Telangana.

The truncated state of AP lacks superior medical infrastructure in the private sector the likes of which is concentrated in Hyderabad, which went to Telangana in the 2014 bifurcation. Hence, the state's dependency on Hyderabad.

The blockade has invited furious reactions from AP's political parties and the public, who are reminding that Hyderabad should have been the joint capital till 2024, according to the AP reorganization act.

Appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government in the arguments, state's advocate general S Sriram stated that such a restriction on travel is unconstitutional under article 21 of the constitution of India.

“Medical infrastructure in the country irrespective of the state it is located in is a national asset. To restrict access or to condition access on the basis of residence is clearly unconstitutional,” the AG said.

Asking the central, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments to file responses on the necessity for seamless admission into hospitals during the pandemic, the court has posted the matter to June 17 for further hearing.