Medical reimbursement claim cannot be rejected due to lack of prior referral order: Tripura HC

2nd November, 2020

The Tripura High Court Chief Justice Akil Kureshi overruled objections made by the Government over medical reimbursement claim of employee Kali Shankar Baidya, a Head Clerk engaged in District Judiciary. The petitioner took full treatment for his nasal cancer, at Vellore Hospital. He applied for permission to travel to the authorities which was not responded to and he couldn’t wait any longer. His application for medical reimbursement was for a total expenditure of Rs. 3, 72,031, which was rejected by the Government. The objections raised by the government towards his plea were:-
1. No referral order allowing him go take treatment outside of the State.
2. No extraordinary urgent grounds for him to travel outside the State for treatment.
The Court overruled these objections with respect to Samar Bhushan Chakraborty Vrs. The State of Tripura that, merely because of no prior referral order from the Medical Board was not obtained, such bills cannot be rejected. The Court then directed the Government to process the medical reimbursement bills as per government policy payable, within eight weeks.