Important Legal Definitions

PILs moved before constitutional courts to enforce the State's duty to provide accessible medical infrastructure, emergency hospital beds, oxygen supplies, and life-saving drugs under Article 21.

In Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v. State of West Bengal, the Supreme Court held that the failure of state-run hospitals to provide timely emergency medical treatment to a patient with head injuries violated their fundamental right to life under Article 21, directing state compensation.