Postmortem Reports Should Be In Typed Format: Allahabad HC Directs UP Govt

The Allahabad High Court has recently directed the state government to issue directives to the state’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) regarding the preparation of legible postmortem reports or injury reports in typed format.

The bench of Justice Brij Raj Singh issued this order while granting bail to one Vishwanath, who is accused of attacking a victim, which led in his death. As a result, he was charged under Sections 323,504,506,304 of the IPC.

He moved to the Court seeking bail on the grounds that there are four accused against whom an assault charge has been lodged, and the dead received one injury on his head and two other injuries to non-vital parts of the body.

His Counsel further stated that a broad charge had been levelled against all of the accused, and that one of the accused, Harish Chandra, had been granted bail by the Court in February.

Finally, it was argued that his case was comparable to that of co-accused Harish Chandra, and that he should be released on bail. The Court approved his bail plea, citing the merits of the case and the fact that the co-accused had been granted bail.

However, before dismissing the case, the Court noted that the injuries described in the injury report were illegible, and both the prosecution and the applicant sides struggled to understand them.

Consequently, the Court ordered the Principal Secretary, Medical Health and Family Welfare Government of U.P. to issue a proper directive to all the Chief Medical Officers of the District that the postmortem report, as well as injury report, be transcribed in typed format. The Court was of the opinion that going forward in future, postmortem reports or injury reports prepared by the doctor should be in a typed format and legible, so that the same can be read easily.

In light of this, the Court scheduled the matter for monitoring after two months from now to examine what actions had been made in accordance with its directives.