Issue guidelines on duties, responsibilities of govt. doctors acting as witnesses: HC

The medical professionals appearing as expert witnesses must exercise a high degree of care, said the court. | Photo Credit: R. Ashok The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) directed the Health Secretary and the Director of Medical Education and Research to issue a circular/ guidelines comprehensively dealing with duties and responsibilities of government medical professionals while acting as expert witnesses before courts.Justice B. Pugalendhi said an expert witness occupied a position of trust. The privilege of assisting the court carried with it a corresponding responsibility to provide objective, accurate and consistent testimony. Even an inadvertent lapse by the medical expert while testifying created confusion, prolonged judicial proceedings and affected the rights of either the victim or the accused.Therefore, the medical professionals appearing before courts as expert witnesses must exercise a high degree of care while giving evidence. Equally important was the duty to carefully read and verify the deposition before affixing their signature, the court said.Medical professionals must recognise that their professional responsibilities did not end with treating patients or performing medical procedures. The duty to assist the court was an integral part of their professional obligations. Such assistance was not a matter of discretion or favour, but a statutory and professional duty, it said.The court directed that the comprehensive circular/guidelines be issued to all government medical colleges, government hospitals, district headquarters hospitals, primary health centres and other government health care institutions.It said the instructions should include the ethical standards expected of every expert witness.The necessity of ensuring that Accident Registers, Wound Certificates, Medico-Legal Reports and all other medico-legal records accurately recorded the clinical findings in a legible and unambiguous manner, and professional opinion formed at the time of examination.Such records might be generated in a typed or computer-generated format for easy comprehension by investigating agencies, prosecutors, defence counsel and courts.There was a necessity to prepare revised proforma for Medico-Legal Examination of Survivors/ Victims of Sexual Violence, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in cases involving sexual violence, including POCSO Act cases.The medical professionals should familiarise themselves with relevant medical records before entering witness box and depose in accordance with those records and their professional opinion.The court stressed the need to understand every question during examination and cross-examination; wherever any ambiguity existed to seek clarification before answering; to carefully read and verify the deposition before signing it; and to immediately bring to the notice of the court any omission or inadvertent error noticed therein. The efficacy of the justice delivery system depended, to a considerable extent, upon the credibility of expert evidence. It was, therefore, imperative that every medical professional entrusted with this responsibility discharged it with the highest standards of competence, objectivity and professional integrity, the court said. Published - August 19, 2026 08:27 pm IST