punjab medical manual 1965 medicolegal

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PUNJAB MANUAL OF llr!I , STR UCTIONS GN tl1edico-lega,l Examination ---·-- For medical officers only

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Punjab Manual of Instructions for Medico-Legal Examinations for Medical Officers

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Page 1: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

PUNJAB

MANUAL

OF

llr!I,STR UCTIONS

GN

tl1edico-lega,l Examination

---·--

For medical officers only

Page 2: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

lVlediC;:al Officers must record. at least t.wo No. 39s2id. marks of identification in the medico-legal dt. 1-4-35.

r.eports.

Submission of medico-legal reports of No. 1651•0 , cases brought in or sent by the police should dated ·

not be delayed on any account .. In all cases in 10"2"36·

which delay is unavoidable for good reasons in{orma tion to this effect should be sent immediately to the police as well as Civil Surgeon.

I ·women doctors should be called upon to No. 38861 G

examine \Yomen medico-legal cases only when dated '

the patients definitely refuse examination by 17"4•36 ·

a male doctor. If, however, lady doctors are called upon to do medico-legal work, they 5ho.uld not refuse to do medico-legal work on behalf of Government and . they must be prepared to go into the witness hox if required to do so. ·

Medical Officers may specify that an No. 11135/G,

injury is self inflicted only in those cases in ~~~~~37 which this is quite obvious. They should, · however, refrain from committing themselves on this point in doubtful cases.

Page 3: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

2

No. 11706/G Civil Surgeons are required to supervise g9~9?38. • with great care the medico-legal work done

by Government medi~al officers and to bring to the notice of this office any medico-legal case .in which the conduct of a medical officer

. is found to be of.suspicious nature or displays n~gligence or carelessness.

No. 9440_0 No .fees should be charged by Civil aated · •. Surgeon or other Government medical officers ~~~1-]91;410• for medico-legal examinations of the. injured dated persons who have already exam~ned by !1i'6:38J~ another medical officer in any cases in which

the Crown is the complainant. If medical ·officer .is in doubt as the nature or cause of an . injury he should record a finding to the effect

. that the,. police should obtain the views of ·.·.another Government doctor.

. If a Civil . Surgeon is suspicious of the conduCt of a medical officer in a police case and desires to examine the case himself he should always do so in his official capacity and should not charge any fee for it.

No, ll~O/G, Medical Officers may issue a certificate of f~t1C:.~9 • ;~ ·injuries to a private party in a:·case in which

the par:ty had already reported to the police provided the injured persons or his guardian give an affidavit to the effect that the police were not proceeding in the rna t!ter either of their own accord or at the instance of a Magistrate.

No. l87o/G. 'l~he issue of false medical certificate in dateu medico-legal case either dishonestly or 181"2"389 to through incompetence will be severely dealt al C. s.

with and may result even in dismissal. from service.

Page 4: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

3

A woman when broughJt for medico-legal No. 5765/G, ·

examination . by the police should not be ~~~~~4o. examined without. her consent and without a written order from the Magistrate addressed to the medical officer to this effect.

Medical Practitioner attached 1to subsi- No.6 138-G-I d . d d. . d b d f d dated 1ze 1spensanes are e arre rom un er- :o-4-4o. taking medico-legal of any description but they must tre.at suspected cases of POISONING AND ALL SERIOUSLY INJURED CASES requiring immediate treatment whenever called upon to do so.

Copies of injury reports recorded in the ~f.' ~~;?~u outdoor register should not be issued by the I0-7-40.

Medical .Practitioner attached to suhsidized dispensaries.

Government medical Officers may examine medico-legal cases brought by the police which have already been examined by a· Private Medical Practitioner and it does not matter if the opinion of the Government Medical Officer c-onflicts with that of the private doctor.

All medico-legal cases of se.rious , i~jl.lry j;':,>: o: of· poisonine: admitted· to. a hospitaL .ot~:~ .. 115101,

dispensary whether brought In by the pollee aated 5/4. or not. shouJd be reported ·to the police, in to all c. Ss

writing at the nearest thana as soon as possible and in any case within 24liours_ of aCfriliSSion. An acknowledgement of the nolice official receiving the report should" be kept in the hospital record.

Page 5: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

4 ' No. 1369/GI, Women doctors in Government service dated 8-11-41. should not be called upon to conduct the

No. 17389/ G-1. dated 2-11-42.

examination of men except b~ys under 12 in mectico-legal cases ·(even ,police cases) for the purpose of giving a certificate and .appear­ing in court for ·evidence.

In all urgent cases necessary medical and surgical aJitd must, however, be given by women doctors.

Medical Officers should use their own discretion in the matter of classification of InJuries. . In doubtful cases they should seek the; advice. of the Civil Surgeons and report the matter to the police.

[ I

Para 596(b) of the Punjab Medical No. 6597/GI, Manual is not applicable to medical officers-1;~;~43.. in;-ch~rge ~ur~l disp~nsaries. .. They can

examme pnvate med1co-legal cases (non­cognizable) · in their capacitv as- a private medical practitioner, if the District Board concerned has no objection.

The cases of grievious hurt who go to the No 110-4101 medical officers incharge of Rural Dispen­dat'cd .. 'saries for examination and certificate should 27•6-44 · be treated in the same manner as if they

were sent by the police for the purpose of credit of the prescribed fee of Rs. 2 (two) only per case to· the District Board concerned pro­vided rthe police actually take cognizance of the case.

Page 6: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

5

Medical ofiice,rs shall ndt interest them- No. 10477-. h t' .4-' f GI dated selves m any way in t e nego Ia~wns or com- 3-7-1944

promiSe between the parties involved in t 0 all C.Ss.

medico-legal cases and will not wait for their decisions before sending their reports to the police.

If injured persons are brought at night ~~~Jg~7i0 their medico-legal examination should not 1944 to all be delayed until the next morning. If, c. ss. owing to the lack of day light definite opinion on certain injuries cannot be given a note to this effect shall be made by .the medical officer in the ·medico-legal report. Such cases shall be examined again invariably, sent to the police if a change of opinion is made or new confusion etc. found.

According to the dictionary meaning the No. 11571/

word "fracture" both as noun and verb when ?3~7-~~~f .. a bone is broken into two pieces it is a frac-ture irrespective of the relative sizes of the pieces and similarly it will be fracture if a crack, division or spli't has been caused in a bone.. If the crack extends only a part or the way through the thickness or a continuity of ihe subqtances of the bone. The above should serve only as a general guide and medical officers are expected to use their own discretion and judgment in such cases as they are themselves responsible for ~he opinion expressed by them.

Page 7: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

No.l73l­GM dated 4-2-1950.

When the police drops a case it becomes a private case and as such the exammmg medical officer should be entitled to the usual fee of Rs. 4 for issuing a dupljcate copy of the medical certificate to the injured and such cases should be treated under para 596(b) of the Punjab Medical Manual.

No. 3070/GI All head injury cases should be examined dated 4-1950 11 b th d' 1 fJ' h 1 10 au c. ss. persona y y e me Ica o "leers t emse ves.

No. t3oso-. As free medico-legal examination of GIIKasauh ' . . dated 19-7- police cases does not cover free medical I95J. treatment in paying wards of the hospitals,

such medico-legal cases as ·elect to be treated in private wards are ito pay the prescribed charges for room rent, medical officer's visits etc.

No. szs- :Quplic~te -~ies~ __ th~ _ __rpe_c1i_~.Q::Je_gal 3HB-s3/342t certificates may be issued to courts_ and other 1~~~~ 24_1_ off!cTaJsT.iufhorit1es -withfn tne-P\inJaE--sfate

free of 'cliarge. arid the "fees as prescribed in paragraph [ci)-aoovebe cnargea··-rroll} private individuals 1 parties I other states or adminis­trations 'in India.

Page 8: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

7.

In some of the medico-legal post-mortem No. 4 :69-81 1 - Gli dated cases the medical officers on subsequent 18-::.-195~. :EJ interrogation by the police, give revised opinion as to the nature of the injury or about the cause of death and do not send information to that effect to the Civil Surgeon. This practice is mosit objectionable from administrative point of view as the Civil Surgeon being the representative of the Health Department in the District must be kept informed of all the developments at all stages in medico-legal and post-mortem cases. It may, therefore, please be :impressed upon all concerned that they should s,upply the Civil Surgeon with a copy of any informa-tion which may be supplied to the police authorities on their subsequent interrogation or which they may like to send ·of their own accord about any change of their opinion ~n.. such cases. In post-mortem cases if any correspondence i's .. held between ·a Medical Officer and the Chemical Examiner t0 Government Punjab, a copy of the same should always be supplied ~o ·~he Civil Surgeon of the District. concerned.

If ,an 'iniured is kept unoer observati_on No. 14739-• . · .. --,....--,-· -.------·-· · .... -, • Gil dated

and 1s sent fOr ~n X-ray the inJured .Will 7o-s-J 9ss. depOsittilefee in __!_he 'firsf}ils"Th_ri;ce and in case the Tnfu:rV is "C1edared 'sim.Pl~:tneree willbe ·rete1ined and If -it -is declared ·greVious, thex=-Rai f~ll af.l ~he fee charged by the first examfiiiii~f -medfcaT-officer ---is .!fO -be refunded and 'the polrce··-rmormed.---This procedure is aaopre-aonk_in_caseE._ where the­injured has not come ~hrough the police.

Page 9: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

No. 25797-25811-GII, dated 20·9·

'19.55.

8

Medico-legal certificates for injuries of non-cognizable nature to persons belonging to other Illaq as may be issued by the · Medical Officers of nearest hospital/ dispen­sary where the person received tlie "injury, provided the injured person gives an affidavirt that he was injured in the ilaqa of t;he hospital/ dispensary concerned.

No. 382-461/ , It has been observed that some Medical ~~~19ct;J,ed. · Officers in the first instance charge medico­

legal fee from cases of injury kept under observation and then refund, the same in cases which are found to be cognizable·. This practice causes misunderstanding in the

.. :· r -~ . ·~

10675-GII :1 ared 24-4-1957.

mind of publfc. It is, ttherefore, circulatea for the' guidance of all concerned that medico-legal . fee is hot to be charged in advance in cases kept under observation. It is to· be charged· only when the injuries are found to be slight and a certificate is demanded by the injured.

In case the injury entered in the register at the time of admission later on turns out to be sfmple in nature, the fee can be charged by th~c.al_ofli_cer, provided H is not . .a police case. The fee cannot be charged if the injured does not demand the certificate on decla-r:c:ttion __ of __ t.h~_jnjuries as--s1ight. No fee is to be charged in advance from the cases kept under observation, until the re~mlt is confirmed. ·No fee is to be charged for the issue of a certificate if injury is gdevous.

Page 10: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

9

A Civil Assistant Surgeon Class II (NG) ~d'il~~ys­referred a medico-legal case to the neareshi273-309, hospital for X-Ray but while referring thedated28-ll-' 1957. case he did not issue regular dispensary out-door ticket under his signature nor did he give clear instructions in a note recorded thereon for X-ray examination as to from which Government hospital the patient was to go for this examination. Such a practice is not only objectionable but it also reflects adversely on the efficiency of a doctor. It is requested, therefore, tha1t all Medical Officers serving under you should please be directed to : -

(i) use regular dispensary outdoor tickets, and ----:r--

(ii) give clear instructions in a note for. X-ray laboratory etc. examination as to the specific hospital from which the examination is to be got done.

All the Medical Officers who perform the No. 14121-post-mortem examination should be directed 3GII-58/213-. · 1 h · . 32, dateu to supp y t e copies of post-mortem reports m 4-1-1958. the cases of deaths in mines to the officers of the Mines :Department free of cost as and when required.

Sometimes railway employees, their No. tG Med

families aJ?d passei?!!ers when injuredd. _as a :~~~~5~atr.d result of r::nJwav accJdent are removed 1rect- from the

ly to the Civil Hospit<:tls by the Police or the ~l~:~n ?tatioTl staff. without having b~en previously Baroda

ex::Jmined by the Railway Doctors. The ~~~h~~· New

Railway Doctors in such cases h<we to submit Endst. No.

iniurv medical reuort to the railway adminis- ~~'%9~?.¥oo2, IntraHon. I shflll be f!)::Jd if vo11 olease issue dated 24-2-

instructions to the MPdical Officers Inch:uge 1958· of Civil Hospitals to afford necessary facilities

Page 11: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

No. JGII-58/5855-93 dated 24-3-1958.

~o. 34T9-3GII-58, 8936-86 dated 3-4-1958.

No. 255-2GII-59/ 3484-3584 dated 21-2-1959.

No. 3162-2GTI-59/ 8824-74 dated 9-4-1959.

10

to the Railway Doctors for examination of such cases and where the case had already been discharged from the hospital a copy of the medical report including X-ray findings if any may please be given on demand t 0 the Railway Doctors.

Whenever any doctor is required to attend ·the court he/she takes the copy of the medico-legal examination report by removing the same from the register which is irregular and objectionable. It has, therefore, been decided that every Medical Officer should maintain his/her separate med.ico-legal register.

All the cadaveric remains should be sent .to Anatomy Department of the Medical College, Amritsar in a sealed container along with a legible copy of the post-mortem. examination report and all other connected

·papers submitted by the Police. All these papers as well the the post-morte_m report will be returned to the Medical Officers concerned after examination by the Anatomy Depart­ment.

Operators must sign on the Operation Registers themselves on all CC'Ises that thev have operated, in adnition io signing on the be>d-head tickets of thP patients ~s the Operation R-Pgisters ~rP Medico-Legal docu­mfmt in addition to being reccrds of statisti­cal value.

CivH Assistant Surf!eon r:lass IT (Non­gazetted) are not authorizc•d to conduct tht' post-mortem examination.

Page 12: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

11

It is emphas'ized on all Medical Officers that in all cases of head lllJUries, whilst examining these cases, they should pay parti­cular attention to ascertain, if at ~the time of examination there were any symptoms of brain injury and for this purpose they should note the detailed history of the case.

By paying attention of these symptoms and noting the history of the case, especially unconsciousness immediately after accident and physical examination th~y will be able to assess any brain injury and treat the cas~" accordingly and explain the subsequent symptoms and conditions of the case.

Apart from other details required to be ~oi ~¥J.I given in the medico-legal forms, particular 3~~ Sated attention sho~ld be given to · 1he completion 5-5·1960. •

of the chart. It is highly essential that the charge should be completed in a manner so as. to show the exact location and direction of the jnjuries so that both the courts . and Medical Officers an:~ guided by the same during the trial of the case.

Medical Officer Incharge Mortuary No. 13042-

should insert. the entries therein r:gularly ~~/17~~66 and promptly mentioning .the followmg for dated 1S-J 1•

referenct=>s in the Courts as aDd when 1960• required:-

Name and address of the dead body.

Date and hour at which the dead body is brought to the mortuary. ·

Name of the ocrson escort ing tlw d0ad body.

Page 13: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

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No. 3GII- .... . .... . ........... The issue .of this circular , 60/38572-621 dated 21-12- do not realise the seriousness of concomitant 1960• injury to the brain in cases of head injury.

' .

In most cases this error occurs because due importance is not attached to the realization of the latent interval which occurs in all cases of .extra Dural haemorrhage. Attention is further drawn to the importance of penetrating injuries in the region of the upper eyelids in children which are very likely 1to penetrate into the brain. Therefore all cases of pen~trating injuries about the upper eyelid in children or even in adults should be specially examined to deal with any injury to the brain and removal of any foreign body etc.

No. 4695· · The medical officer to whom a Govern-3GII-60/ ··

. 40786-s27 ment employee approaches for recommend-dated 26-12· ing a spell of 4 days leave or less should 1960• bt . d I ,!. • • f G . t

No. t74R2-506/GII(3} dated 26-5-1961.

o am ec araLIOn rom a overnmen employee on a certificate issued to 'him in the following manner ·:-

"I do hereby solemnly declare that I am not already on a spell of 4 days leave .. or less on medical grounds on the strength of a certi­ficate from another doctor".

As post-mortem reports are jmportant documents particular care shouJrl be taken by them to see that these are written legjbly and ar.e free from spelling and other mistakes.

Page 14: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

13

According to the standing department No. 392!3-. . . ll d' l l f . 92-GII( 3)41, mstruciwns a me 1co- ega cases o ser1ous c.ated 27-U.-nature injury or of poisoning admitted to a i?_6~8' 0 a11

hospital or dispensary whether brought in · by the police or not, should be reported to the police in writing at the nearest Thana as soon as possible and in any case within 24 hours of admission and an acknowledge­ment of the police official receiving the report should be kept in the hospital record.

A question has also arisen whether a wound caused by a Fire Arm, even though simple in nature, be considered as simple injury or grevious. In this connection it may be stated that even a simple injury caused by a Fire Arm may be regarded as dangerous by a Court of Law, whereas from the medical point of view it may not be a grievous injury. There is thus a lacuna in a case wherein a person who has been fired at by a Fire Arm but has not actually suffered grevious injuries on his body, may not be regarded as grevious hurt by the Medical Officer who is not expected to know all the implications of the case. In order, there­fore, to avoid a'ny legal complications in such cases; it has been decided that all 1DJuries caused by a Fire Arm jf they are simple in nature should nereportea-tOtlie police in wrWng as is -done In 'the cases mentioned in above para. These instructions should please be brought ~to the notice of all lhe medical officers for strict compliance.

Page 15: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

No. IOrS4-GII(4)61f 1196-1296, dated 1 S-1-1962,

No. DHS-102-GII/95 I 6684-7885 dated 13-3-1962.

14

In order to prevent the recurrence of such embarrassing situation ill; has been decided

that whenever a material discrepancy is noticed by a Medical Officer while conducting a second medico-legal or post-mortem examination of a person who had previously been examined by some other Medical Officer, the Medical Officer conducting the second Medical examination should refer such person to the Civil Surgeon for con­ducting the necessary medico-legal/post­mortem examination.

The Medical Practitioner (Doctor) under the present Jaw has to apprar as a witness to prove the facts which he has reported, by oral testimony court. For this purpose l:-1~ is summoned to a Court. These summons should always be obeyed. In a cr'iminn ~ case he .is given a certificate of court attend­ance which enables him to __ QffiW his Travell­ing . and DaiJ.y Allowance :from his depart­ment. In ·civil cases a fee called 'Conduct Money' sho{il<fbe- p~·d·d c~-Dssur-edt;o -be paid wfieri ___ tTie·-·summons are delivered. The summons of a court should always be obeyed as fi~st priority. Doctor should be prompt and punctual in his attend<mcc and not leave the court without permissJon of the presiding officer.

All testimony in courts is oral but the witness can refresh his mcn1ory by consulting the reports already made. It is advised that this refreshing of memory should be more frequently and more thoroughly mf\de use of.

Since the doctor has not control over the time that elapsed between the drawing of the report and appearance in court he should be

Page 16: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

15 .

careful to write a complete report so that he is never put in a position to reply solely upon his memory. Eventually this will lead to embarrassment or serious error on the witness stand. Therefore it behaviours the investiga­t-or to write a complete and accurate report. The greatest care should be exercised in writing a report to obviate the possibility of capital being made by the opposing side out of any loose wording or careless statement. The report should give the date, time, place of examination, name, age, sex and identifica­tion and· also names of those who identified in the case of dead bodies.

The notes of all findings should be com­plete and ac:curate and the skeleton diagram in the post-mortem and medico-legal register should be usea to indicate the exact situation of the. injuries. The opinion based on facts noted should be stated briefly, clearly and cautiously. If an injury or cause of death is not clear it may be reported that an . opinion cannot be given. ·

The reports should be drawn in third person singular using the past-tense and passive voice e.g. instead of saying "I noted" say un was noted" and so on. Before draw­ing ·a report refresh your knowledge of the subject by consulting text-books and do not cut, scratch, erase or over write your reports. This vitiates your report and places y~u in an embarrassing position. If on post­mortem examination the prior to death of that description of the injuries do not tally (e.g. contused would might have been describ­ed as sharp-edged ones by mistake) with the

Page 17: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

16

description given by the doctor who conduct­ed the medico-legal examination prior to death of that individual then in such like cases the Civil Surgeon should be called in to perform the post-mortem examination.

The following poih ts should be observed while giving testimony :-

1. Assume a comfortable but dignified position in the witness box.·

2. Do not talk in complicated medical terms, use simple layman's langu­age e.g. say bleeding instead of haemorrhage etc. etc.

3. On the witness stand your function is to answer question and not to lecture to 'the court, no argue with opposition counsel. If a 'Yes' or 'No' is demanded and if an honest 'Yes' or 'No' cannot be stated, tut_n to the j@g_e and telr·n.rm so.

4. Do not appear partial to the side which calls you as a witness. Stick to the facts and do not let yourself be led away into the realm of speculation. Maintain your com-. posure.

5. Do not admit that a certain author or a certain book is an authority on any subject unless you are sure that you agree with every state­ment which the author makes. Books cannot testify and unless

Page 18: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

17

you admit that a book is authorita­tive it cannot be introduced in evidence or quoted in cross­examining by you. Whenever you read a passage from a reference book you should always insist to­read the lines yourself and that too alongwith few lines preceding, the quoted lines and also the lines thereafter so that the proper mean­ings of the para are understood.

6. Do not bluff or make rash state­ments which cannot be supported. Often .times the correct answer is 'I do not Know' Do not hesitate in giving' this answer.

\iVhen a doctor willingly or otherwise No. 868"­

becomes involved in a professional respect for ~i;~~~~ 8• appearance in a court, he has to .undergo a 3-1962.

public ordeal which he should endeavour to view with perfect quanimity. In courts the evidence of facts and opinion elicited by counsel's questions during eaxmination-in-chief is bound to be tested by cross-examina:.. tion when a witness may be questioned closely and persistently. Once in witness box the doctor is, therefore, likely to find that a straight forward examination-in-chief will be followed by questions which \Vill require knowledged, rapid but careful, thought, if helpful and clear answers are to be given and all this in pub]ic. with the full attention of the court and press, so that incautious remarks aFe apt to resound for more than similar remarks made in the seclusion of the consulting room.

Page 19: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

18

It is needless to emphasise the importance of keeping complete and detailed records so that, if litigations arise, reliable reference may be made to the documents. Abbreviation in records are abazard because counsels are not slow to seize upon possible ambiguities or any other apparent defects in case records, sometimes using them with devastating effect in cross-examination. To quote an example of abbreviation of C. may be used as Civil Surgeon/Chief Secretary and so forth.

It has been noticed in a large number of cases that the doctors who perform post­mortems or do medico-legal examination do not fill in the charts showing the exact loca­tion of injuries received by the deceased or the victim of the assault. It is of utmost importance that the exact location of injuries should be noted down by the doctors at the time makes the examination of the victim. Filling up of the charts accurately and elabo­rately will help the doctor to explain the position to the court at the time of evidence. All medical officers while filling in their medico-legal and post-mortem examination report~ should invariably fill in the diagrama­tic sketches so that exact location and direc­tion 'of the injuries can be known to answer q llPstions in the Courts. In this behalf attention of the medical officers is also invited to Appendix XL of the Punjab Medical Manual,. which e!lumerates the various types of questwns, whJch may usually be .put to them in the course of cross examination.

A doctor should not withhold useful evidence just because he is afraid of having a bad time in court. It is admitted that

Page 20: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

19

·cross·examination is a rigorous t'est for any doctor is undergo. Yet unless he is willing and unless he delivers testimony effectively, he fails in an important service to his com­munity and to his patient. -

The above instructions should be brought to the n< tice of all the medical officers for their guidance and strict compliance in future.

It has been found that in Hospitals post- ~~1 <43~~J­morteni work js divided on Sex basis i.e. 26780-798,

female dead· bodies by the Women Assistant 19~e2~ 25•8-

Surgeons and male dead bodies by the male Assistant Surgeons. This distribution of Sex basis is wrong. Since Woman Assistant Surgeon are now promoted to the Rank of Civil Surgeon and any day may take charge of Civil Surgeon. The postmortem work is

· essential.

Keeping in view the position explained above, Assistant Surgeon and Woman Assistant Surgeon should take the work of Post mortem by turn irrespective of Sex.

Page 21: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

20

~~~if~~<4> Reference your letter No. 1359 dated 11th dat~d tJ-9. August, 1962, on the subject noted above. 196;! to C.S. Nabha.

In this connection the following instruc­tions may please be kept in view while dealing with such cases which do not normally fall within the jurisdiction of Civil Hospital, Nabha.

1. As far as possible simple cases . of hurt be sent back to their Medical Officer.

2. If the Medical Officer is on leave/ sick/ absent then they are to

1 be

examined by the Civil Surgeon .. 1

3. All grevious cases should be accepted for treatment <I.nd examination etc.

,,

No 3s46s. It is suggested that in a medico-legal 3Ssoo-GU{4) case where a fracture is suspected no 63 dated 1' h ld b 1 d · 1 14.11-1963 re 1ai1ce s ou e p ace on screenmg a one to ail c.ss. and only the finding of Xi-ray examination be &DMH.

taken as deciding factor. All X-ray must be taken at least in two planes interior /lateral <~nd if necessary oblique view be also taken persistent nnd distant tenderness 1s in the hospital clinical sign of fracture. In sorne c~ses notably the Gospal Scepliened X-ray examination repeated after a week is more revealing. N.B. Distant means tenderness away from the place actually struck or hit.:

Page 22: Punjab Medical Manual 1965 Medicolegal

21

The Chief Medical Officer is the Govern- No. PMND . . • (2)64-/58

men t medico-legal expert of the D1stnct. He dated 4-l -

is required to supervise the medico-legal work conducted by the Medical Officers working under him in his jurisdiction. If the Chief Medical Officer /Principal Medical Officer is suspecious of the conduct of a Medical Officer in a police case and 'desires to examme the case himself on the approach of the aggrieved party(s) he should always do so in his official capacity and should not charge any fee for it.

Issued by : Directorate of Health & Family Welfare,

Punjab, Chandigarh.