Medical Professional are not allowed to be dragged into various criminal proceedings unless there is a negligence of high order

Aditi Reddy M | Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad | 24th February 2020

Anjana Agnihotri & Anr. v. The State of Haryana & Anr.

FACTS OF THE CASE:

• The prosecution says that Santhosh Rani was admitted into the Agnohotri Hospital as she was expecting a child and also the doctor advised her to get a caesarian operation done and a male child was born. After the birth the doctors felt that the mother needed blood and so the husband and the husbands brother had offered to transfuse their blood to her. After such a transfusion the mother expired.
• By the following the facts of the case the brother of Santhosh Rani’s husband had filed an FIR with the police and allege the hospital saying that the patient was not attended after the transfusion of the blood from 2.30pm to 2.00am. Here it was also important to note that the transfusion of the blood from the husband and his brother was taken by the dispenser and the Dr. Agnihotri. It was also important to state that the two persons blood was tested and then only it was transfused to Santhosh Rani and the oxygen was also administered.

Held:

• The Trial court had discharged the application of the accused by referring to the Jacob Mathew’s case.
• Later the Additional Sessions Judge had set aside the order of the discharge and in its revision it was upheld
• In Jacob Mathew vs State of Punjab(2005) 6 SCC 1, the court clearly stated to prosecute the medical professionals for negligence under the criminal law, the party must be able to prove something more than mere negligence as they are the people who deal with the dying patient and they are certainly expected to take the best decisions in that circumstance of the case. In case if such decisions do not result well still that would not let the medical professionals guilty of criminal negligence. Such a medical profession may be liable to pay damages but unless negligence of  a high  order is shown  the medical professionals should not be dragged into criminal proceedings.
• The court by reiterating the judgement in Jacob Mathew case had stated that in any case of criminal negligence against a medical professional it must show that the accused had committed something or failed to do something which should have been done in ordinary prudence of the professional. The court had also opined that in such cases independent opinion of another doctor should be obtained in this regard.
• The Supreme Court in this case had set aside the judgements of the High Court ad restored the order of the Trial Court and discharge the appellants saying that in the present case the prosecution failed to take an opinion of another independent doctor. Also, the postmortem report does not show that Santhosh Rani and not expired because of the transfusion of the blood. The only negligence that could be attributed to the accused is that they carried out the blood transfusion in violation of some instructions issued by the Chief Medical Officer that blood should be obtained from a licensed blood bank and that no direct blood transfusion from the donor to the patient should be done.