27 Jan 2023 • The Delhi High Court recently decided that if the record was supported by another doctor at the hospital, there was no need to personally examine the doctor who wrote the medico legal case report (MLR) in order to rely on it.The bench has decided that a fellow physician or a member of the hospital's administrative staff who is familiar with the doctor's handwriting and signature and can verify that the report was written by the doctor who evaluated the patient can establish the veracity of an MLC report. "It is absurd to expect the hospital to keep track of a doctor's whereabouts once he leaves the hospital. The hospital has no right to know the doctor's whereabouts at all times. The MLC cannot be dismissed only on the grounds that the qualified doctor who created it was not physically inspected " said the bench. The petitioner's conviction for the alleged rape of a two-year-old girl was a major point of contention. A special court found the defendant guilty under the POCSO Act, and he was sentenced to life in prison with hard labour and a fine of Rs 50,000. The petitioner's attorney argued before the HC bench that the conviction should be reversed because it was primarily based on the victim's mental incapacity. The petitioner's legal team argued that the MLC report lacked credibility since the physician who wrote it was not subjected to cross-examination. The State's Health Counsel argued in opposition, arguing that the MLC report could not be disregarded because the physician who authored it had not been examined.

Source: Medindia | Read full story