HC stays second medical board formation in Ghumman death case

Following a petition filed by the family of deceased Jalandhar-based bodybuilder Varinder Singh Ghumman, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered that the constitution of the second medical board into the cause of the death of Varinder Singh be kept in abeyance. The court of Justice Subhas Mehla had directed that the matter be deferred till the next date of hearing on May 19.

Father of Ghumman Bhupinder Singh had filed a petition through senior advocate Mandeep Sachdev and Meher Sachdev objecting to the constitution of the second medical report on March 25. He had said the new board was being formed to help the four doctors who had been booked for alleged medical negligence after the first report and to dilute the allegations against them. He also alleged that the second board was being constituted without any approval of the investigation agency.

Bhupinder, who has retired as an ASI and was a kabaddi player too, had pleaded that his son was admitted to Fortis Hospital, Amritsar, for a surgery on October 9, 2025. However, he was informed about the death of his son after an unexplained prolonged duration of surgery. He said that a medical board was formed to probe his death.

The first board was constituted by Civil Surgeon, Amritsar, the competent authority. It comprised of seven members, who, in their report on February 25, recorded the findings of violation of standard medical protocol and improper conduct of surgery, leading to his death. It was on the basis of this inquiry report that an FIR was registered against four doctors of the hospital.