A local court in Haryana’s Jhajjar has sentenced three doctors of a private hospital to imprisonment of two years and six months each in a case pertaining to the death of a teenager in Bahadurgarh eight years ago for medical negligence.
Each of the accused has been sentenced to a two-year jail term for causing death due to negligence and two terms of three months each on charges of act endangering life, and breach of contract to attend on helpless person, but the sentences will run concurrently.
Rahul, a resident of Chhotu Ram Nagar in Bahadurgarh, was going to attend a computer class on January 21, 2011. He was walking along a railway track, when he fell on the stones due to the air pressure created by a fast-approaching train and sustained serious head injuries. He was rushed to Jeevan Jyoti Hospital where he was allegedly not attended to for hours and ultimately he succumbed to the injuries.
Gross negligence
In a 19-page judgment, holding doctors Deepak Sharma, Ritesh Kumar and Manish Pal responsible for the death of the Class X student, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Vivek Kumar relied on the inquiry report of the medical board constituted under the chairmanship of N.K. Mundra, the then Deputy Civil Surgeon.
Saying that the prosecution had successfully proved the guilt of the accused beyond “shadow of reasonable doubt”, the court noted that Rahul had suffered skull fracture and multiple rib fractures, and a CT scan was was necessary for further medical aid.
The medical board found that no such tests were conducted on the injured since these facilities were not available at the hospital.
Quoting the medical board’s report, the court said: “This patient should have been referred to higher institute after the initial management.”
The court noted: “The accused did not exercise due care and caution as they could have transferred Rahul to the trauma centre at a government hospital, Bahadurgarh... but the accused were indifferent to the patient’s safety and thus committed gross negligence.”
The court also rejected the contention of the defence regarding a five-month delay in registration of the FIR, saying that it was not “tenable” in the present case. “This court is practical enough to understand that in a country like ours, it is quite difficult for a common man to get an FIR registered against a hospital for committing an act of gross negligence as the police are also reluctant to register the FIR,” the order stated.
The court, however, said the prosecution had failed to prove the charge of criminal conspiracy against the accused.
