Delhi High Court to Centre: Ensure med care to HIV+ man ousted from job

The Delhi High Court (HC) on Thursday directed the Centre to ensure proper medical assisstance to a 26-year-old man, whose services in a private city hospital were terminated after he was found to be HIV positive. A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra gave the directions while hearing a petition filed by the employee, who has challenged the discontinuance of his services.

In the petition, the father of two children has stated that while working as a daily wager and assisting technicians at the hospital, he suffered three-four pricks from injections, following which he informed the hospital authorities but they did not pay any heed to him. He further said he contracted the disease on work. The petitioner had filed an appeal through his counsel Advocate Ashok Agarwal, challenging the order passed by a single judge who had ruled that the termination could not be challenged because it was not his fundamental right, being a contractual worker.

The petitioner, who was ousted almost a year ago, drew his last salary in January, 2016. The court directed the counsel of the Centre, as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences fall under its jurisdiction, that proper medical aid should be given to the petitioner, who withheld his name in the appeal. The court also directed the Delhi State Legal Services Authority to look into the prospects of employing the petitioner in any job under any scheme.