Kochi: The Kerala High Court has temporarily halted the practice of conducting night-time postmortems at Manjeri Medical College in Malappuram. The court issued the order after a petition was filed by two forensic surgeons, Dr T P Anand and Dr Rahnas Abdul Azeez, raising concerns over insufficient facilities for such procedures.
Justice C S Dias, while reviewing the petition, directed that doctors should not be compelled to perform postmortems during night-time until the required basic facilities are in place. The court accepted the petition and has asked the state government to respond with an explanation.
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Allegations of inadequate facilities
The petitioners claimed that the head of the forensic medicine department at Manjeri Medical College had unilaterally decided to offer 24-hour postmortem services. However, they argued that the college lacks the necessary infrastructure, staff, and resources to handle postmortems at all hours.
Concerns were also raised regarding the involvement of politicians and external influences. The petitioners alleged that they had been under pressure from political figures and others to comply with the decision, despite the lack of proper facilities.
In response to the allegations, the health department had appointed individuals close to the head of the forensic department to investigate the issue. The court is scheduled to hear the matter again on 3 February 2025.
Published: 21 Jan 2025, 07:40 am IST
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