Legal Reference Library

Quashing a criminal case lodged against a doctor, the Supreme Court in Dr. Sou Jayshree Ujwal Ingole Vs State of Maharashtra & Anr. has held that an ‘error in judgment’ by a doctor does not make him guilty of criminal negligence under Section 304-A IPC. The allegation against the doctor was that after having called for a physician, she did not wait in the hospital and did not attend upon the patient (who was admitted on account of injuries suffered in a road accident), especially when the patient was suffering from haemophilia. As the physician did not turn up, the patient died. The brother of the deceased had lodged complaints against the doctors. The petition seeking to quash the complaint was dismissed by the Bombay High Court.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court in Rahul Jain Vs Smt. Namrata Jain has held that the jurisdiction of High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution of India cannot be exercised to correct all errors of a judgment of a Court acting within its limitation. Such jurisdiction can be “exercised where the orders is passed in grave dereliction of duty or in flagrant abuse of fundamental principles of law and justice”, the court observed. The court upheld the order of trial court that dismissed an application filed by the petitioner under Order 16 Rule 1 of Civil Procedure Code to summon a particular witness in his divorce case.  The court found on the date the issues were framed in the divorce case the petitioner did not filed any list of witnesses nor made any request to summon a particular witness. Justice Vandana Kasrekar held the trial court has not passed the order “in violation of fundamental principles of law and justice warranting interference of this Court under Ar...