DR. VIJAY KHER Vs. BISHAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this common order, three criminal miscellaneous petitions bearing No. CRM-M No.16382 of 2014 titled 'Dr. Vijay Kher v. Bishan Singh', CRM-M No.16383 of 2014 titled 'Dr. Shyam Bihari Bansal v. Bishan Singh' and CRM-M No. 16384 of 2014 titled 'Dr. Rajesh Ahlawat v. Bishan Singh' are being disposed of.

(2.) Invoking Article 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioners, namely, Doctors Vijay Kumar, Shyam Singh Bansal and Rajesh Ahlawat, have filed the instant petitions, seeking quashment of Criminal Complaint No. 599 dated 20.7.2013 titled as "Bishan Singh v. Naresh Trehan and others and impugned order dated 10.1.2014, whereby the aforesaid petitioners were summoned by Civil Judge (Junior Division)-cum-Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Gurgaon, except Dr. Naresh Trehan under Sections 420/336/304-A and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioners, at the very out-set has contended that the learned Magistrate ought not to have entertained the complaint unless the complainant had produced evidence in the form of a credible opinion given by a competent Doctor to support the charge of medical negligence and rashness on the part of the petitioners in view of the guidelines laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Jacob Mathews v. State of Punjab and another 2005(6) SCC, 1 and further that in view of Martin F. D'souza v. Mohd. Ishfaq 2009(3) SCC, 1, the learned Magistrate before summoning the petitioners was required to refer the complaint to a competent Doctor or Committee of Doctors specialist in the field relating to which medical negligence has been alleged and only after that Doctors' or Committees' report that there was a case of prima facie negligence of the petitioners, the petitioners could have been summoned.