Overview

• Ordering personal accountability, Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and N. Kotiswar Singh directed the Additional Chief Secretary or senior-most health official of each defaulting state and UT to appear on November 20 with personally affirmed show‑cause affidavits.
• The bench warned it would take a very strict view and impose consequences if noncompliance persists or if only perfunctory reports are filed by the next hearing, and said scheduling excuses will not be accepted.
• A three‑member committee comprising ASG Aishwarya Bhati, AIIMS cardiologist Dr. Nitish Naik, and amicus curiae Karan Bharihoke told the court it cannot finalize ICU/CCU admission, treatment and discharge guidelines until all responses are received.
• The August 19 order required state‑level stakeholder conferences, set a September 30 work deadline and an October 5 filing date, yet many submissions were late or absent, with examples including Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
• The case stems from a medical negligence matter converted into a PIL, and although the Centre issued model ICU/CCU guidelines in 2023, implementation hinges on state inputs and adoption because health is a state subject.