india

Updated: Jul 26, 2019 08:41 IST

People assaulting and “grievously injuring” doctors on duty may end up with a 10-year prison sentence or be fined up to Rs 10 lakh, according to the provisions the draft bill meant to prevent violence against doctors, people familiar with the matter told HT on condition of anonymity.

The draft bill was presented in the second meeting of the 10-member committee constituted by the Union health ministry in the first week of July to examine the feasibility of bringing in a central law to make violence against doctors a criminal offence covered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrCP).

The committee unanimously decided that such a law was needed, and an eight-member subcommittee was constituted to draft the bill.

“The most important aspect of the draft bill is the gradation system, which looks at the type of assault and describes the punishment accordingly. For a simple injury, the minimum punishment would be six months imprisonment and/or Rs 50,000 fine and the maximum would be five years imprisonment and/or Rs 5 lakh fine,” said one of the eight-member drafting subcommittee members.

For a grievous injury, for which a doctor has to miss work for 20 days, the prison sentence would be between two years and 10 years and the fine between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, the member added.

The bill makes assaulting doctors a cognisable, non-bailable offence, said a second person who is a member of the 10-member government panel. This means a person can be arrested without a warrant and will need to approach the magistrate or court for a bail.

“The bill does not address injuries that might lead to death as that is already covered under IPC/CrPC,” the person added.

The draft bill does not make provisions for an institutional FIR (first information report), which was a demand raised by the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA).

“The concept of institutional FIR is not mentioned in the draft bill; however, it does state that if the victim so chooses they may give a written representation to the institution and ask them to file a case on their behalf,” said the second person cited above.

Currently, laws to protect doctors from violence exist in 19 states, including in West Bengal, where doctors went on a strike in June after an alleged instance of assault. Thousands of doctors from across the country joined the protest, prompting the central government to form the committee.

There have been no convictions under laws meant to protect doctors, according to FORDA.

The central bill will replace the state acts if it comes to force.

Dr Jateen Ukrani, consulting psychiatrist at PsyCare Neuropsychiatry Centre, Delhi, said making strong laws is only one part of the solution. “There are such laws in 19 states already, but there have been no convictions. A strong law will be of no use unless action is actually taken,” he said.

“The other part of the solution would be for the government to look at the root cause. There is a need for increasing healthcare funding, improving facilities, increasing the number of doctors. Only then will the patient be satisfied and there will be fewer incidents of violence,” Ukrani, author of a meta-analysis on violence against doctors published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, said.