'Doctors Not Even Going Near Bodies. Such Shabby, Unscientific Autopsy Reports Will Collapse Criminal Justice In Country': Madras HC Issues Guidelines [Read Order]

Noting that in most of the medico-legal cases, the outcome of the criminal case depends upon the findings in the autopsy certificate and also the Doctor's evidence, the Madras High Court has expressed concern that if the autopsy reports are prepared in a shabby and unscientific manner and without actual performance of autopsies by Doctors, it will lead to collapse of criminal justice delivery system in the country."The Doctors are the most respected citizens of this country and they are doing yeoman service and also aid in the justice delivery system in medico-legal cases. Therefore, corrective measures have to be taken as otherwise, criminals would escape from the clutches of law because of the negligence and deliberate failure on the part of the Doctors who are doing post- mortems", said the bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. S. Sundar.The bench appreciated that a post-mortem certificate is very important to decide the cause of death, the injuries found on the body and whether any poisoning is there or not; it is very important for the criminal justice delivery system. The evidence of doctors based on post-mortem certificates play a vital role in deciding criminal cases, especially murder cases, suicides and assaults. "The Courts usually take the Doctor's Opinion/evidence as gospel truth as they are the best persons or experts in the field and based on their evidence only, the cases are decided", expressed the bench."Even to decide the age of the victim in Motor Accidents Claims cases, the opinion or post-mortem certificates issued by Doctors are accepted by Courts and based on the age shown in the post-mortem certificate, the Courts would apply corresponding multiplier as envisaged in II Schedule of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 under Section 166(A) of the said Act, for calculating the compensation to be paid to the dependants of the victim. Such is the importance attached to post-mortem certificates in criminal cases as well as Motor Accidents Claims cases. Therefore, post-mortem certificates have to be prepared following the procedure as per Article 621 of Tamil Nadu Medical Code", noted the bench.The bench observed that the relevant literature and the model post-mortem report form suggested by NHRC categorically speak about the necessity to give a finding regarding the cause and manner of death in the post-mortem report. "However, shockingly and surprisingly, the respondents have required the cause of death alone to be mentioned in the post-mortem certificate and the manner of death cannot be given by the Forensic Expert. When the understanding of the higher officials is very pathetic with regard to the finding to be given in the post-mortem report, this Court cannot expect the Forensic Experts to give a finding regarding the manner of death. Hence, the contention made by the petitioner that post- mortem reports are not comprehensively prepared and they are not done scientifically has to be accepted by this Court", stated the bench.The bench noted that leaving the autopsy to the mortuary attendant is not a new phenomenon and it is there for a long time and that is the reason why it has been cautioned by the experts in the medical literature itself. Even though it is common knowledge that Doctors mostly will not come near the body and only in contested or very sensitive murders or deaths, they will do autopsies by themselves. "Therefore, it is hereby made clear that the Forensic Experts shall themselves do the autopsies with the assistance of experienced Mortuary Attendants, Scientific Officers, Technicians and Sanitary Workers and should not be left to them alone", directed the bench.A perusal of the report procured from a Government medical college and hospital in Madurai "shocked the conscience of this Court". The bench noted that from 01.04.2019 to 15.04.2019, there were 178 post-mortems conducted by the Doctors, out of which there were 57 post-mortems of different cases (Road Accident, Murder, Poisoning, etc.). "All these 57 post-mortems are saying almost the same findings i.e, cut copy paste of the findings. Very few findings are varying in the certificates. Further, as per the CCTV footage, measurements were not taken in any of these bodies. So, it is obviously clear that all these 57 post-mortem certificates are done using cut copy paste method", remarked the bench."All the findings given in one post-mortem is being given in another case even without any post-mortem, which goes against the very purpose of post-mortem and it is as good as not doing post-mortem at all", said the bench.One more shocking revelation made in the report was that even though more Doctors are said to be attending duty, the reports give the details as to how only one Doctor conducts more than 10 autopsies in a single day which is impossible. This fortified the allegations made by the petitioner that the Doctors are not conducting autopsies themselves scientifically as it is impossible for a single Doctor to do autopsies...

'Doctors Not Even Going Near Bodies. Such Shabby, Unscientific Autopsy Reports Will Collapse Criminal Justice In Country': Madras HC Issues Guidelines [Read Order]

Mehal Jain

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