Virendra Gahwai, Bilaspur. The Division Bench of the Chief Justice has quashed the FIR registered against 3 doctors of Korba under section 304A/34 on charges of negligence in treatment. During the hearing of the case, the High Court said that the Medical Board has the right to decide whether the doctor was negligent during treatment or not. No action can be taken against doctors without the report and recommendation of the board.
Actually, a five year old child had died during hernia operation in Korba district. On the complaint of the child’s father, the police had registered a case against Dr. Prabhat Panigrahi, Dr. Jyoti Srivastava and Dr. Prateek Dhar Sharma. The allegation was that Dr. Panigrahi had sent him to the private Ayushman Nursing Home in Balkonagar, saying that there was no facility for operation in the district hospital. During the treatment of the child in the private nursing home, Dr. Srivastava and Dr. Sharma of Ayushman Nursing Home were present along with Dr. Panigrahi in the operation theatre. According to the police, about half an hour after taking child Divyansh for operation, Dr. Panigrahi informed them about the child’s health deteriorating. Along with this, the doctors admitted the child to a private hospital in Kosabadi without consulting the family. After some time, the doctor present there informed the family about the death of the child.
The accused doctors filed a petition in the High Court saying that no investigation has been conducted by the Medical Board or the competent authority regarding the allegations. Therefore, no prima facie case of negligence in treatment is made out. During the hearing of this case, the High Court admitted that the family was already informed about the condition of the child in the case.