The Supreme Court on September 5 said the state and the central governments cannot provide security to private hospitals and nursing homes, which operate like business enterprises, during the hearing of a plea seeking directions to provide security to doctors and healthcare workers, vulnerable to attacks by patients' relatives and others.

A bench of Justices said the private hospitals charge exorbitantly and they can take care of security issues on their own, and questioned the petitioner's counsel, how will the government provide security for so many private hospitals and nursing homes?

The senior advocate, representing the Delhi Medical Association, said the doctors and healthcare workers are vulnerable to attacks and emphasised having a mechanism for their security.

The bench told the senior advocate that in big cities, every lane would have a medical centre and how can it pass generic orders? "You can't expect the government to put in place a security system for private players."

The bench sought details on complaints and representations made to the state governments as it was not included in the petition. It is observed that it is not possible for the apex court to micromanage the security and also it cannot pass directions on what kind of security should be given to private hospitals.

The bench said the attack on doctors is unfortunate and whenever an attack occurs, it is due to a certain failure in the system in place. It said providing security to a government hospital is again an executive decision and it is not for the court to enter into this arena.

It made it clear that it would not pass any direction to the government to provide security for private hospitals since they are business enterprises. The senior advocate sought permission to amend the petition, which was allowed by the bench.

The DMA sought directions to ensure adequate security at hospitals and medical centres to prevent attacks on doctors and healthcare workers by relatives of patients and others. The plea was filed through another advocate.