Take steps to verify education certificates of all government doctors: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on July 26 observed that steps need to be taken by the State government to verify the education certificates of all doctors working in government hospitals [Sreedevi & Anr. v State of Kerala & Ors.].Justice PV Kunhikrishnan also opined that there needs to be guidelines in place to ensure that medical practitioners are appointed only after their certificates are authenticated."Certain guidelines is necessary to ensure that appointment orders of medical practitioners in the state are issued to selected candidates only after getting their educational certificates verified and authenticated by the Universities/institution that have issued to them. If necessary, steps should be taken to verify the education certificates of all government doctors working as on today," the Court said in its order.This is not to demoralize the hard working doctors in the State, who are our strength and pride but only to make sure that culprits are not there in the profession and also to built confidence to the society, the Court added..Justice Kunhikrishnan clarified that these steps are necessary since ensuring the confidence of the citizens in their public healthcare providers, is indispensable. "It is the duty of the government to rule out these apprehensions and to create a doctor friendly atmosphere in our society," the judge held..To drive the point home, he quoted the words of Carl Jung, "medicines cure diseases but only doctors can cure patients".The first petitioner in this case, one Sreedevi, was admitted in the Taluk Headquarters Hospital, Karunagappally for delivering her baby. She was taken directly to the labour room since she was already experiencing some mild labour pain. A doctor, arrayed as the sixth respondent in the petition, examined her and then left the hospital. When she started experiencing severe labour pain a few hours later, this doctor did not turn up even though nurses tried to contact her. Soon, some complications arose in the pregnancy and by the time the doctor returned, Sreedevi had delivered a still born baby. .It was the case of the petitioner that there was severe negligence on the part of the doctor which was what resulted in the still birth. The doctor claimed that she has an MBBS degree and an MS in obstetrics and gynecology.However, upon filing an RTI application, the petitioners found out that the doctor had actually failed in Diploma in Gynaecology and Obstetrics course.This prompted the petitioners to approach the High Court seeking ₹20 lakh as compensation from the State government, to be recovered from the doctor. They further sought an order to the State to issue guidelines to ensure that doctors are appointed only after their educational certificates are verified and authenticated by the university that issued them..The Court noted from a statement filed by the Directorate of Health Service that the doctor had not received the degrees she claimed to have. It was also confirmed that she had forged her certificates.Upon being informed that a crime has been registered in the case, the Court ordered the State Police Chief to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the case within one week and file an action taken report within one month. .While it did not explicitly direct the State government to pay any specific amount as compensation to the petitioners, the Court reminded the government that some legal battles are not worth winning, and directed it to file an affidavit within a month on the quantum of compensation that can be paid. The Court also opined that the public health sector needs more scrutiny and, therefore, directed the government to include its views on the matter in its affidavit..The matter will be taken up next on September 4. .The petitioners were represented by M/s SR Prasath and Bhanu Thilak Advocates. The doctor was represented by M/s PC Haridas and PS Govind Advocates. .[Read Judgment]