The state will within two weeks authorise medical officers posted in corporation-run hospitals to perform autopsies, a move which is likely to give a big boost to the justice delivery system in Maharashtra. The health officials will also be given training in forensic science and other skills required to carry out post-mortems.
The state will within two weeks authorise medical officers posted in corporation-run hospitals to perform autopsies, a move which is likely to give a big boost to the justice delivery system in Maharashtra. The health officials will also be given training in forensic science and other skills required to carry out post-mortems.
Principal secretary Sujata Saunik of the Public Health Department revealed this development in the Bombay high court on Thursday.
In an affidavit, the senior bureaucrat said that since the issue pertained to medico legal cases, which come under the purview of the Criminal Procedure Code, it had been referred to the home department. A notification will be issued in two weeks, the court was told.
The state's response came during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by social worker Milind Mhatre, highlighting how criminals in murder, attempt to murder and rape cases were getting off scot-free in the absence reports by qualified doctors.
Advocate Makarand Panchakshai, who represented Mhatre, stated that with no corporation-run hospitals in Mira-Bhayander, officials are sending corpses from the area to Thane Civil Hospital for autopsy, which causes a lot of delay.
As per the petition, Mhatre has been making representations to various authorities since 2008 on the issue. In January 2014, doctors attached to the Mira-Bhayander Corporation stopped performing autopsies on the ground that they were not qualified, prompting the corporation to issue a show-cause notice to them.
In the absence of proper reports that are admissible in the court of law, cases were heavily tilting against perpetrators of heinous crime, said Mhatre. His petition prayed for directions to the authorities to appoint qualified medical officers or grant required powers to the present doctors.
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