The Madhya Pradesh High Court quashed a criminal case against a doctor accused of leaving a sponge inside the stomach of a woman during her child birth operation in 2016.
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Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court decided to dismiss the criminal charges against a doctor implicated in a medical negligence case from 2016. The case involved allegations that the doctor left a sponge inside a patient’s stomach during childbirth.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar of the High Court noted the absence of a crucial forensic laboratory report, making it impossible to conclusively determine whether the accused doctor was responsible for the oversight.
“It was impossible to establish that the sponge had been left behind by the accused, in absence of the forensic laboratory report,”
-Justice Abhyankar remarked.
Further complicating the case was the opinion of a Medical Board, which suggested that a sterilized sponge could remain in the stomach for an extended period without causing complications to the patient. However, it could pose problems if another operation was needed.
“The Board has also opined that had the specimen obtained from the petitioner’s stomach been sent to FSL, in that case, the period of time for which the sponge was left in the stomach could have been ascertained, however, in the absence of the FSL report, such finding is not possible and not justifiable,”
-the Court elaborated.
The patient, Preeti Nema, had been admitted to a government hospital in December 2016 due to labor pains and underwent a surgical procedure for her delivery. It was during this procedure that the sponge was presumably left inside her. The issue came to light when she underwent a subsequent surgery, and the leftover sponge, now contaminated and rotting, was discovered.
Nema’s initial complaint accused Dr. Asharani of negligence for leaving the material in her during the childbirth procedure, leading to the filing of a First Information Report (FIR). The High Court initially directed the investigating officer to adhere to the procedures established by the Supreme Court for medical negligence cases. However, it was later revealed by another Medical Board that while a sponge was left behind, it was uncertain whether Dr. Asharani or another doctor from a previous surgery was responsible.
Dr. Asharani argued for the quashing of the case, stressing that it was unclear if the fault lay with her or with the physician from the earlier surgery. She also pointed out that the charge under Section 308 (attempt to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code was not applicable in her situation.
The Court emphasized the importance of the missing forensic lab report, which was never obtained as the sponge was not sent for analysis.
“In such circumstances, when the criminal liability is required to be fixed on the petitioner, it has to be seen whether there is sufficient material available on record to bring home the charges levelled against her,”
–the Court noted.
Ultimately, the Court decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges against Dr. Asharani, given the absence of any documents demonstrating the duration the sponge was in the patient’s body.
“In such facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the considered opinion that no purpose would be served to prosecute the petitioner when the prosecution itself has not filed any document on record to demonstrate that the time for which the sponge remained in the complainant’s stomach was relatable to the time when the petitioner performed operation on the complainant,”
-the judge stated.
The FIR was subsequently dismissed, although the Court mentioned that Nema could still seek civil remedies. The Court also noted the difference in the standards of proof required in criminal cases versus civil cases and preserved the patient’s right to pursue civil actions.
“In such circumstances, liberty is reserved to the complainant to proceed against the petitioner by taking recourse of the civil remedies available to her under law, if not already initiated, in which, the time spent in prosecuting the criminal proceedings shall stand excluded from the period of limitation,”
–the Court concluded.
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