The Bombay High Court has mandated the Secretary of Health and the Commissioner of Police in Thane, Maharashtra, to initiate legal proceedings against a medical officer. This directive follows the officer's alleged gross negligence during the postmortem examination of a deceased individual involved in a murder case.

“The Secretary, Health, Government of Maharashtra, and Commissioner of Police Thane are directed to take cognizance of the said report as well as the order passed by this Court and initiate an appropriate legal action against Dr. Phad and the concerned for such gross negligence and illegality in conducting a postmortem of the deceased-Mohan Bhoir”, Justice Prithviraj K. Chavan directed.

The court was addressing a bail application submitted by Jaywant Bhoir, who is accused of murdering an individual in 2020. Bhoir sought bail citing that the post-mortem report failed to specify the cause of the victim's death. The medical officer handling the post-mortem report noted that the cause of death would be determined upon receiving the chemical analysis report.

On August 8, 2023, the court instructed the Civil Surgeon of the Civil Hospital in Thane to form a committee to determine the cause of death. The committee's investigation revealed inconsistencies in the postmortem report prepared by Dr. NA Phad, who conducted the examination at Rural Hospital, Murbad. Notably, Dr. Phad's report was issued on the letterhead of his private hospital, despite the postmortem being conducted in a government hospital. Additionally, Dr. Phad failed to provide any report from the official government records. Moreover, the committee found that the conclusions in Dr. Phad's report contradicted each other.

Dr. Phad's documentation of the injuries on the deceased's body did not align with the injuries recorded in the inquest panchnama. The committee's investigation uncovered that Dr. Phad did not complete the required form for forwarding the viscera to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) correctly. Additionally, he neglected to send brain samples of the deceased to the FSL in Thane as required.

The court observed that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) viscera report incorrectly stated the date of the postmortem as July 16, 2020, whereas it was actually conducted on July 12, 2020. Consequently, the court directed the state authorities to acknowledge the discrepancy in the report and its order, and to commence appropriate legal proceedings against Dr. Phad. Furthermore, the court mandated the Secretary of Health to furnish a preliminary report within four weeks and summoned the investigating officer to appear at the next hearing scheduled for April 23, 2024. During the proceedings, Advocate Nilesh Navale represented the accused, while Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Ashish Satpute represented the State.

Case no. – Criminal Bail Application No. 3392 of 2022

Case Title – Jaywant @ Bhau Mukund Bhoir v. State of Maharashtra