Two FIRs registered under special Act

Tribune News Service

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Ludhiana, May 18

The Police Commissionerate today registered two FIRs as per the special Act in two recent cases in which doctors were attacked and hospitals were ransacked by patients’ kin.

In the first case, Dr Jagdeep Madaan, an orthopaedic surgeon at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, was attacked by a family member of one of his patients after he asked the patient to get the knees replaced. The family member attacked the doctor and said he was misguiding his mother.

The second case involved Dr Ashish Ohri of Arogya Hospital Jassian Road, Haibowal, where incidence of violence occurred on the intervening night of May 13-14 after the death of a 64-year-old patient, suffering from cancer of pancreas, shortly after surgery.

In both the cases the Model Town and Haibowal police stations have registered FIRs under The Punjab Protection of Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2008 against the assailants.

Earlier, the police had registered FIRs under bailable sections only. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wanted action as per the special Act passed by the government for the welfare of doctors’ fraternity. It was only after the doctors lobby pressed the police to register cases under the special Act that officials sought opinion from DA Legal and finally registered the FIRs.

While expressing satisfaction over registration of the FIR under the special Act, Dr Madaan said this would provide secure environment to doctors for work. The FIR was registered against Shobit Sachdeva, he added.

The IMA president, Dr Avinash Jindal, said according to the Act, an offence committed against a doctor or a paramedic institution was non-bailable and punishment could be imprisonment up to one year or more or fine up to Rs 50,000 or both.

When docs face wrath 

In the two separate cases the doctors were attacked by kin of the patients. Initially, the police registered FIRs under bailable sections only, which invited objections from members of the Indian Medical Association.