Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Mar 6: The Bombay High Court (Goa bench) has quashed a criminal case filed against Dr Pritam Sinai Mopkar, a senior obstetrician and gynaecologist from Mapusa, ruling that no prima facie evidence of “gross negligence” was established in connection with the death of a patient in 2023.

The case relates to the death of a 41-year-old woman who was admitted to Ankur Nursing Home, Mapusa, on December 22, 2023, due to complications arising from a twin pregnancy. According to records, the patient went into active labour on December 27, during which she suffered a retained placenta and severe obstetric haemorrhage.

She was later shifted to Goa Medical College for emergency treatment but died on December 30, 2023.

Following a complaint by the patient’s husband, police registered an FIR in September 2025 against Dr Pritam Mopkar and her husband, Dr Ajit Mopkar, under Section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with causing death by negligence.

While quashing the FIR against Dr Pritam Mopkar, the High Court noted that she has over three decades of medical experience and found no evidence of her direct involvement in the patient’s clinical management.

The court observed that the inquiry report did not contain even a “whisper” of Dr Mopkar’s personal role in the treatment, which was reportedly handled by Dr Ajit Mopkar and hospital staff.

The court also cited the landmark judgment in Jacob Mathew vs State of Punjab, in which the Supreme Court of India held that criminal prosecution of doctors requires proof of gross negligence demonstrating a reckless disregard for life.

It noted that mere errors in judgment or lack of due care do not automatically constitute criminal liability.

Concluding that the evidence did not support a case of gross negligence, the High Court ruled that continuing criminal proceedings against Dr Pritam Mopkar would amount to an “abuse of the process of law.”