Medical Officers Should Strictly Comply With Provisions Of CrPC During Medical Examination Of Rape Victims

Case Background

• The case is titled "Satish v. State of U.P. And Anr.".
• The Allahabad High Court was hearing a rape suspect's bail application, who was booked under Sections 363 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Sections 3 and 4 of the POCSO Act.
• On reading the rape victim's medical report, the Court was surprised to find that the Doctor had not stated anything relevant in the report. The report contained only the victim's height and weight in the Provisional/Primary Medical Opinion column.
• The Court questioned the Doctor, Doctor Smita Singh, why she did not give a provisional opinion regarding the alleged offence in the FIR. The Doctor stated that the opinion could only be issued after receiving the supplementary report, but the Court rejected this claim.

Court's Observation

• The case was heard by the Bench of Justice Manish Kumar in the High Court of Allahabad.
• The Court observed that a provisional/primary opinion could be issued without waiting for the investigation reports. A supplementary report is to be followed after the investigation reports, so the column of Provisional/Primary opinion comes before the supplementary report.
• The Court explained that the provisional/primary opinion should be based on the victim's clinical examination.
• The Court further stated that in the vast majority of cases, provisional opinions are always given by doctors who have clinically examined the victims. This was the first time the Court was looking at such a flimsy report.

Directions and Order of the Court

• With an order dated 24th August 2021, the Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to issue a circular to all Chief Medical Officers in the state, instructing them to follow the provisions of the CrPC strictly.
• It was directed to follow Sections 164(2) and (3), Cr. P.C, while submitting the medical reports and the provisional/primary opinions.
• The Court also ordered that the prescribed format for medical reports to be given by medical officers be uniform across all districts in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Senior Registrar of the Court was also ordered to communicate this order to the Principal Secretary (Medical Health) and Director General (Medical Health) to ensure strict adherence to Section 164 A Cr.P.C.
• The Bail Application was hence listed in the week commencing from 6th September 2021.

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