Hyderabad: The Telangana high court discharged a doctor charged with the death of a patient due to negligence and cheating, after finding that none of the sections of law alleged against the doctor (petitioner) warranted taking cognisance of a crime against him.
The doctor approached the high court after a city court dismissed his petition seeking discharge from the criminal case registered in April 2013, in connection with the death of a woman in Nov 2009 due to his alleged negligence during treatment, resulting in the woman’s death.
Delivering verdict in a criminal revision petition challenging the Hyderabad court’s April 2024 order, Justice EV Venugopal said that the entire record showed that the doctor only suggested some tests to be done for the determination of the disease with which the woman was actually suffering, and hence, it did not attract any of the charges laid against him.
Referring to the grievance of the woman’s family, the court observed that after the family approached the AP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at Hyderabad, the commission directed the doctor to compensate the woman’s family, and hence the family’s grievance was also addressed.
While maintaining that the proceedings before the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission were not conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, the high court remarked that civil cases are decided on the basis of the preponderance of evidence, while in criminal cases, the entire burden lies on the prosecution, and proof beyond reasonable doubt has to be given.
Further, since the proceedings of the commission cannot be equated with those of the proceedings before the civil court, the commission’s findings would not have any bearing or applicability to the present case, said the court, while setting aside the lower court’s order and discharging the doctor in the criminal case.
