New Delhi: The Supreme Court has quashed a criminal case filed against a paediatric surgeon accused of providing “wrong treatment” to a one-and-a-half-year-old boy during surgery.
The child’s parents from Chennai had admitted their son to a private hospital for an operation to correct a testicular defect. They alleged that the doctor, Balagopal, removed the boy’s left testis instead of bringing it down into the scrotum.
Following the complaint, Ambattur police registered a case in 2006. The doctor’s plea to quash the proceedings was dismissed by the Madras High Court in 2013, after which he appealed to the Supreme Court.
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Manoj Misra noted that the consent form for the procedure mentioned either lowering the testis or removing it. The court also referred to a medical board’s view that if the testis was not removed, its viability could reduce in the future.
Stating that the doctor is the “judge” in deciding what kind of surgery is required, the Supreme Court set aside the case against him.
