To save time and streamline the preparation of the medico-legal cases (MLC) and post-mortem reports, the city government has issued directions to eight government hospitals to prepare the post-mortem reports in computerised format instead of producing them manually as illegible handwriting of doctors often caused confusion during trial.
The decision of the government was taken after a city court has suggested a slew of measures, including preparation of post-mortem and medical reports on computer for easy and better comprehension.
Appearing before the court of additional sessions judge (ASJ) Sanjeev Aggarwal, Delhi government’s additional secretary, health and family welfare, S.S. Sidhu informed it that an order has already been issued to all the eight hospitals that conduct post-morterm examination.
The court’s suggestion came after it realised that the incorporation of the photograph in the MLC would lead to transparency in the criminal justice system as no accused will be able to take the advantage of the wrong MLC in the court, which will also be useful for his identification,” the court noted.
The hospitals where computer-generated post-mortem reports will be issued included Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital, Guru Tegh Bahadur hospital and Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital.
During the proceedings in a criminal case, the medical superintendent of DDU Hospital told the court that they had also floated tenders for exploring the possibility of preparing computerised MLC reports and also incorporating the picture of the injured in the reports.
The ASJ had said that, “In most of the cases, the writings in the MLCs/postmortem reports are not at all legible and lot of time is consumed in deciphering the said writing. The doctors have to first describe the contents written in the MLCs and postmortem reports, so that the same can be dictated and converted into legible words.”