New Delhi: In a ray of hope for 67-year-old Satyavati, who is battling breast cancer, after she was denied treatment under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme, the Delhi High Court has moved to seek clarification from the agency.Hearing the plea, the court on Tuesday issued notice to ESIC asking why it was denied super specialty treatment (SST) to a patient who required immediate chemotherapy and surgery. The case is now listed for April 29.According to the petition, a series of referrals to ESIC facilities followed for Satyavati’s diagnosis. Her nephew Rajesh Rajora told TOI that she had first approached the ESIC dispensary in Nand Nagari two months ago after a lump was detected in her right breast. He was referred to Jhilmil Hospital in East Delhi, where doctors advised a Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) test. Since testing was not available there, it was conducted in the private sector.After reviewing the FNAC report, the doctors referred him to ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Faridabad, where further tests including biopsy were conducted, while the PET scan was done in the private sector. The report confirmed stage one breast cancer and doctors advised chemotherapy followed by surgery. April 15 was set to start chemotherapy.However, when she reached the hospital for admission, she was refused treatment on the grounds that the super specialty treatment section was not active, reportedly due to a brief break of a few months in the employment of her son Gaurav in 2025.“We were given a date for chemotherapy, and then suddenly told he was not eligible. How could one refuse treatment in a cancer case? The break was only for a few months, and he is still the beneficiary. “We can’t wait for paperwork when the disease won’t wait,” his nephew Rajesh Rajora told TOI. Since the next court date is at the end of April, we had no option but to take him to GTB hospital to start treatment.”Rajora said that despite the brief gap, Gaurav and his dependents continue to be ESIC beneficiaries, and denial of treatment in such a case is unfair.The plea said the denial of treatment is contrary to ESIC’s 2024 policy, which makes super specialty treatment mandatory for insured persons and their dependents from the first day of employment, subject to case-based assessment.Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Ashok Aggarwal told the court that Satyavati – a dependent of an insured employee – was refused treatment despite clear medical advice on the grounds of “non-eligibility”.Terming the denial as “illegal and arbitrary”, the petition argues that withholding life-saving care is a violation of the fundamental right to life and health under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. It also cited previous High Court judgments underlining the state’s responsibility to ensure treatment for serious diseases like cancer.After receiving no response to the legal notice sent earlier this month, the family moved the High Court, demanding immediate and uninterrupted treatment.The case is expected to test the implementation of ESIC’s super specialty treatment framework, especially in high-risk cases involving dependents.