In Brief
A surgeon was charged with criminal negligence under Section 304-A IPC after a haemophiliac patient died. The patient suffered abdominal pain; the surgeon examined him, summoned a physician, and left the hospital without waiting. The physician did not arrive, and the patient died the next morning. The High Court rejected the petition to quash the charges. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the surgeon's conduct was merely an error of judgment, not criminal negligence. Criminal negligence requires gross negligence of a very high degree; a medical professional cannot be prosecuted merely for following an acceptable practice or making a judgment call that another doctor might have made differently.
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