Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh High Court has initiated a stern response to a case involving a manipulated medical certificate provided to a prisoner. Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Ranjan Sharma have issued show-cause notices to three doctors from the PGIMER, Chandigarh. The court has ordered the doctors to submit personal affidavits and has demanded their presence within 24 hours.The issue arose when a prisoner, who had been serving a sentence in Kanda Jail, Shimla, for 14 years, sought a parole extension due to deteriorating health. The jail administration initially approved parole for the prisoner until September 2023. After receiving medical treatment at PGIMER from August 6 to August 10, the petitioner presented a medical certificate from the hospital requesting an extension of parole until September 15.
Upon examining the certificate, the court found that the recommended leave was from September 1 to September 15, coinciding with the end of the parole period. However, the court noted that the certificate lacked any recommendation for leave from August 10 to August 31, despite the petitioner’s stay and treatment at the hospital during that time.Consequently, the Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Ranjan Sharma, observed that the certificate had been manipulated by the petitioner, and the doctors responsible for issuing the certificate shared the responsibility. The court deemed the doctors’ actions as an improper attempt to assist the petitioner, leading to the issuance of the manipulated medical certificate.
In response, the court issued show-cause notices to Associate Professor Dr. Raja Ramachandran from the Department of Nephrology, the concerned Senior Resident, and the Medical Superintendent of Nehru Hospital at PGIMER, Chandigarh. The notices demand personal affidavits explaining the circumstances under which the manipulated medical certificate was issued. The court also sent a copy of the order and the manipulated certificate to Prof Vivek Lal, Director of PGIMER, Chandigarh.The matter is scheduled for further hearing on September 21, as the court takes a serious stance against such improper practices that could impact the integrity of medical certificates used for legal purposes.
Legal Prescription
- Doctors should issue medical certificate only after thoroughly examining the patient. When the patient is undertrial or is imprisoned then the doctor should issue medical certificate supported by examination & medical reports.
- Medical certificates to undertrial or imprisoned patients without supporting medical reports of the patient leads to suspicion of manipulation by the doctor to benefit undertrial or imprisoned patient in seeking bail or release.
- The doctor should issue advices or medical certificate to the patient only on the specialty in which they are qualified.