KOCHI: Doctors examining an accused can conduct medical tests as they deem fit to detect internal injuries if there are indications or complaints of custodial torture, the Kerala High Court has ordered.
The clarification by justice PB Suresh Kumar was in an interim order issued on a petition (WP-C No. 14291/2021) filed by a doctor through advocate R Gopan.
Through the petition, the doctor had highlighted the dilemma caused by a circular issued by the director of health on June 14th to keep in abeyance a circular issued by the director on June 4th as part of implementing the recommendations of Justice K Narayana Kurup Commission that probed Rajkumar’s custodial death.
The Commission had recommended that doctors examining an accused should obtain test reports such as renal profile, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), urine myoglobin, and c-reactive protein (CRP) to detect internal injuries if custodial torture is suspected. However, the circular of June 4th had mandated the same for all accused, resulting in jail authorities insisting that all accused being admitted to the jail must have undergone these tests.
Following this, the director of health issued the circular of June 14th (Ext.P4) to keep in abeyance implementation of the circular of June 4th, leaving doctors in a dilemma while police began insisting for noting external injuries of accused alone.
Granting six more weeks to the state government to inform its views on the matter, the court said in an interim order issued on Monday, “In the meanwhile, it is made clear that Ext.P4 order will not preclude the doctors conducting medical examination of persons accused in criminal cases from ordering appropriate investigations as they deem fit, if there are indications or complaints of custodial torture.”
