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The high court was hearing an urgent application moved by the doctor who was required to report to Mizoram for a post-diploma course in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a 31-year-old MBBS doctor who faced charges for allegedly performing an abortion without the woman's permission, allegedly at the behest of her husband and mother-in-law.
A single-judge bench of the high court, led by Justice MM Sathaye was hearing an urgent application moved by the doctor who was required to report to Mizoram for a post-diploma course in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Advocate DA Nalavade, representing the doctor, argued that the FIR lacks information about the date of the alleged incident. Nalavade pointed out that on 28/12/2022, sonography was conducted in Kolhapur, revealing that the complainant was already 1½ months (six weeks) pregnant at that time.
Even accounting for the date mentioned in the complainant's statement, it suggests she was at least 16 weeks pregnant on that date, based on the sonography report.
Nalavade emphasized that considering these dates, a medical abortion by simply inserting medicine is not feasible. An abortion at such an advanced stage would require a procedure or operation, leaving a traceable record.
Additional Public Prosecutor YY Dabke argued that in the statement under section 164 of the Cr.P.C., the complainant provided the date of the alleged incident and identified the applicant as the involved doctor. Therefore, he contended that bail should not be granted.
In response to the court's inquiry, the APP mentioned that the CCTV footage had been overwritten over time due to memory constraints of the Digital Video Recorders.
He added that despite the seizure of hospital records during the investigation, no medical record was found indicating any procedure conducted on the complainant.
Therefore, the bench granted bail to the doctor, noting that his entire career was at stake.
“There is no angle of any personal enmity etc. His whole career is at stake and it will only perish further, if his personal liberty is not protected. The Applicant’s mother and wife, both are doctors. The Applicant is a permanent resident of Kolhapur having immovable property there. The Applicant has shown absolute willingness to co-operate with the investigation and also to abide by any conditions that may be imposed,” the bench said.
Case title: Dr Digvijay Abhay Patil vs State of Maharashtra
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