Govt receives HC flak over on-campus med stores issue

Cuttack: The Orissa high court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the state govt seeking adjournments instead of clearing the air over campus medicine stores in all govt medical college and hospitals, district headquarters hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and community health centres in the state.
The court was hearing appeals from medicine shop owners against the April 19 order of a single judge declining to interfere in the state govt’s decision to evict them.
On Sept 5, advocate general Pitambar Acharya had sought time to enable him to seek instructions as to whether there is any proposal to review the policy that has been challenged by medicine shop owners. The court had granted time till Sept 19.
However, when the matter was taken up on Wednesday, govt advocate Jyoti Prakash Pattanayak appearing on behalf of the advocate general sought one more week’s time to take instructions from the govt. The two-judge bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho said “it is too embarrassing” that the govt has been seeking adjournments even as an interim order has continued for four months.
The bench adjourned hearing on the matter for one week, expecting the govt to make it clear whether it plans to revoke the policy decision or continue with it.
The interim order for maintenance of status quo with regards to shops being operated by 59 owners was issued on their pleas seeking relief against eviction on May 9 and 14. The bench posted the matter to after one week for final hearing and said “the interim order shall continue.”