The Madras High Court made the observation that in many medico legal cases, those in the medical professions face unnecessary harassment. The observation was made in the context of a case regarding two doctors at the SP Hospital who treated an acid attack victim. The HC said that professionals including doctors are hesitant to appear in courts owing to the unnecessary harassment in cross questioning that they face.
Doctor harassed with unnecessary questions, poking at his integrity
Related to the case in question, a division bench of Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice V Bharathidasan observed that the doctor who states that he administered first aid to Vidhya(the victim) and referred her to a government hospital was harassed with unnecessary questions. Most of the questions were unnecessary and unlawful and harassing to the doctor, the bench added. The bench also expressed bewilderment at the fact that the doctor was repeatedly subjected to cross-examination when there was no cause to doubt his credibility.
Dr. Stalin was on duty at the SP Hospital in Adambakkam when Vidhya, who was allegedly attacked with acid by her fiancé was rushed to the hospital. He attended to the victim. This incident took place on the 30th of January, 2013.
After administering first aid the doctor referred her to a government facility. In the case in court, he became prosecution witness 13, was subject to cross-examination by the defence counsel. The defence lawyer even implied that Stalin should be held responsible because he violated medical ethics. Not only that, he even faced questions that poked at his integrity, even being asked why he did not join government service after finishing MBBS.
Reports suggest that the doctor was subject to intense cross-examination for two days and had to visit the court thrice.
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