The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an FIR against doctors and the management of Chinmaya Mission Hospital in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar over allegations that a six-month-old girl’s little finger was severed while an intravenous drip was being removed.
A single-judge bench headed by Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde passed the order while hearing a criminal petition filed by the hospital’s medical director, Dr U. Sudhir, and members of the hospital management seeking cancellation of the FIR.
The court said the investigation must establish what exactly happened during the four hours after the incident, when the child was kept in the emergency department. It also said investigators must examine whether the required medical protocol was followed during that period.
“An investigation needs to be conducted into what exactly happened during this period and whether medical protocol was followed,” the court observed, according to the report. The bench directed the investigating officer to conduct an objective investigation, obtain assistance from subject experts and submit an appropriate report on whether the case amounts to medical negligence.
The case relates to allegations that the child had been admitted to the hospital because of an illness and was placed on an intravenous drip. According to the allegation recorded in the case, doctors later advised that the child could be discharged. The child’s little finger was allegedly severed while a nurse was removing the drip.
An FIR was registered at the Indiranagar police station under Section 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The High Court’s refusal to quash the FIR allows the investigation to continue; it does not itself establish criminal liability or conclude that medical negligence occurred.
The court’s direction places the focus on the quality of the investigation and the role of medical expertise in assessing the incident. Rather than deciding the merits of the allegations at the stage of the petition, the bench said the circumstances surrounding the child’s treatment and the removal of the drip required further examination.
The investigation will therefore have to establish the sequence of events inside the hospital, assess whether applicable procedures were followed and determine, with expert assistance, whether the alleged injury resulted from negligence. The investigating officer is expected to submit a report after completing that process.
