New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has directed all States and Union Territories to immediately convene expert meetings to prepare state-level action plans for implementing minimum standards for Intensive Care Units, and has set a firm deadline of three weeks for the entire exercise, culminating in a final blueprint to be placed before the Court.
A Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan passed the order in the context of establishing on-ground standards for critical care infrastructure across the country. The matter is next listed on May 18, 2026.
The hearing on April 20, 2026 was attended by an exceptional assembly of India’s leading medical professionals. Present in Court were Prof. (Dr.) M. Srinivas, Director, AIIMS New Delhi; Prof. (Dr.) Nitish Naik, AIIMS; Prof. (Dr.) Vimi Rewari, AIIMS; and Dr. Harsh Mahajan of Mahajan Imaging and Labs. Joining through video conferencing were Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta; Dr. Shiv Sarin, Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences; Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, Director, ACTREC, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai; Dr. Sheel Pushp Bhosale, Head of Department, ACTREC; Dr. Saumitra Rawat, Chairperson, Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, GI and HPB Onco-Surgery and Liver Transplant, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital; Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Narayana Health; and representatives of the Ministry of Health. Additional Solicitor General Ms. Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the Union of India, while Mr. Karan Bharihoke appeared as Amicus Curiae.
The Court recorded that the Guidelines for Organisation and Delivery of Intensive Care Services have been prepared with the consensus of the expert team and represent practical, implementable minimum standards for ICUs. Copies of the guidelines were taken on record, and the Court directed that they be shared with all States and Union Territories.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, was further directed to formally issue these guidelines to States and UTs by way of an interim advisory and to upload a copy on its website. All subsequent reports in this exercise are also to be uploaded on the Ministry’s website.
For the purpose of implementation, the Court directed all Additional Chief Secretaries or Secretaries heading the Departments of Health and Medical Education in every State and UT to personally convene, within one week, a meeting of all experts involved in the exercise to prepare an action plan for ground-level implementation of the guidelines. The Court specified that the initial exercise must prioritise and identify five basic requirements—covering both manpower and equipment or logistics—that are absolutely essential and mandatory.
The action plans prepared by each State and UT are to be forwarded to the Secretary, Department of Health, Government of India, who will circulate them to all States and UTs, as well as to the learned ASG.
A subsequent national meeting is to be convened by the Secretary, Ministry of Health, to be attended personally by all Additional Chief Secretaries or Secretaries heading Health and Medical Education departments across States and UTs, along with the ASG, the Amicus Curiae, and members of the Court-constituted expert team, to produce a final, commonly agreed draft. The final report or blueprint is to be placed before the Court on the next date of hearing. The entire exercise is to be completed within three weeks from the date of the order.
Among the key suggestions recorded from the medical professionals were the prescription of timelines for various ICU processes; mandatory training of personnel operating specialised and sophisticated equipment; formulation of standard operating procedures in the form of checklists; and notably, the creation of a GPS-based hospital locator system to enable the public to identify the nearest medical facility and its available services based on the patient’s condition. The Court noted these suggestions as highly practical and deserving of incorporation into the final guidelines.
The Court also acted upon a suggestion regarding nursing and paramedical staff, endorsing as both pragmatic and imperative the view that nursing personnel—who remain with patients round the clock, unlike doctors who visit periodically—must be specifically trained to handle ICU situations.
In furtherance of this, the Indian Nursing Council and the Paramedical Council of India were impleaded as party respondents. The Registry was directed to carry out necessary amendments in the cause title and issue notice to the newly added respondents.
The ASG was also directed to serve copies of the order and pleadings upon them. On the next date, these newly impleaded respondents are expected to submit a plan indicating how they propose to augment their courses, curricula, and training to ensure that persons graduating from their recognised institutions are capable of managing ICU situations.
The Court further clarified, at the request of the Amicus Curiae, that the term “Intensive Care Unit (ICU)” will henceforth be used in these proceedings to cover all such critical care facilities dealt with in its previous orders.
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