PIL alleges legislators receiving unlimited medical expenses

Mumbai, Mar 14 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today issued notice to the state government on a Public Interest Litigation alleging that legislators were being reimbursed unlimited medical expenses.

The notice was issued by a division bench of Acting Chief Justice J N Patel and Justice V C Daga today in response to the PIL filed by Janhit Manch, a Mumbai based NGO.

The NGO has sought to quash a rule of the state legislature that provides full reimbursement of unlimited medical expenses of its members and their family, and replace it with another rule that would provide limited reimbursement.

The NGO has submitted details of reimbursement availed by many members of the House which indicate that hardly any member has provided information about the nature of their or family members illness or the hospital where they had undergone treatment.

Bills, running into lakhs of rupees, have been reimbursed to MLAs and MLCs although a Public Health Department circular of 2005 limits such expenses to 40,000 only, the NGO has alleged.

UNI