It will be difficult for doctors to work if they face threats: Punjab and Haryana High Court

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that it will be difficult for doctors to function in the country if they constantly faced a threat of being beaten up or harassed by relatives of patients. This was because they daily had to deal with situations involving a patients’ life and death.

“This court must state that although there will be a feeling of sympathy towards persons whose family member has passed away, the said persons, including the petitioners, must respect the doctors who always try their best to save the lives of patients and, thus, such persons should not breach the law in case some untoward incident happens,” Justice Vikas Bahl of the High Court asserted.

The assertion by Justice Bahl came on a petition seeking the quashing of an FIR registered in June last year for rioting, causing hurt and criminal intimidation under Sections 147, 149, 323 and 506 of the IPC.

Referring to the FIR registered in the matter, Justice Bahl observed that its perusal showed that the present case was registered on a Civil Surgeon’s complaint alleging that relatives of a woman patient, who died, started making phone calls and calling other persons. After reaching the hospital, they started “creating turmoil and disturbance” and threatened to murder the doctor.

When doctors of the Indian Medical Association arrived, the persons threatened them to go outside. The doctors were thrashed and important papers snatched from their hands.

Dismissing the plea, Justice Bahl asserted: “The argument that it has not been specifically stated as to who had given the injuries to whom, is misconceived inasmuch as the complainant and other doctors could not have possibly known the name of the persons who were the relatives of the patient. At any rate, the FIR cannot be considered to be an ‘encyclopaedia’ giving out each and every fact”.

Justice Bahl added that it came to surface from the cancellation report filed in the matter that fist blows were given to a doctor and papers snatched from another as per CCTV camera recordings.

In any case, the facts would come to the fore after the investigation was completed and the challan presented. Further, no authority of law was cited by the counsel for the petitioners to show that an FIR could be quashed on account of delay of two days.