[Teen footballer Priya death] No anticipatory bail to accused doctors before investigation is complete: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Friday refused to pass orders on the anticipatory bail pleas filed by the two doctors booked for the recent death of Tamil Nadu teen footballer R Priya. .Justice AD Jagdish Chandira noted that an expert committee constituted by the State government to probe the incident was yet to conclude its investigation, and adjourned the hearing by two weeks.The judge also orally said that he was not inclined to grant any relief at present, since this was a "recent incident" and one "must allow the investigating agency to do some investigation."However, he directed the State government to ensure that the family members of the two doctors were "not harassed." ."What about the family? You are the State PP you must ensure that the family is not harassed. We live in a society where a doctor who was treating corona patients died. His family was not even allowed to give him a decent burial," the Court said.It was citing the April 2020 incident in Chennai when a 55-year-old neurosurgeon, Simon Hercules, died after having contracted COVID-19 from one of his patients. His family was attacked near the burial ground by locals who falsely believed that the dead body could lead to the spread of the virus..Priya died of multiple organ failure at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai on November 15, following complications that she allegedly developed owing to medical negligence by doctors at the Government Peripheral Hospital at Periyar Nagar.The two doctors - Paul Ramashankar and Somasundar - both 34 years old, were detained by the police and subsequently suspended by the hospital following the incident. They approached the High Court on Friday denying any negligence on their part, and seeking protection from arrest..Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammad Jinnah told the Court that the inquiry committee's final report was awaited. He said that in its preliminary findings, the committee had said that the two doctors had failed to recognise the reasons for the extreme pain and numbness that Priya complained of post her arthroscopic surgery performed at the Peripheral Hospital to repair her torn ligament. "It says the duty officer also failed to recognise the reason for pain, and to inform the senior doctor," Jinnah told the Court..Appearing for the two doctors, Advocates S Xavier Felix and F Camillus Selva told the Court that there had not been any lapses on their clients' part. They also said that they were willing to surrender if the Court ensured police protection."I am ready to surrender, but my life will be under threat. A gynaecologist doctor was murdered in 2011. My family members were taken to the police station and kept there. My mother-in-law and father-in-law were taken to the police station. If I am given protection I am ready to surrender," one of the counsel said.The petitioners said that the incident had become highly politicized, as several politicians including the Chief Minister were speaking about it, and meeting the deceased's family. They said that they had been receiving threat calls from random people. Dr Ramshankar further said that he did not perform surgery on the deceased, but was only there to assist Dr Somasundar. He left at 3 pm after completing his duty for the day.Dr Somasundar said in his plea that he had performed over 300 successful orthopaedic surgeries and around 100 knee/hip replacement surgeries. .The Court, however, said that the doctors could not simply submit that they had gone home after their duty hours and hence did not know what happened to their patient.It added that whether to voluntarily surrender or not was a choice that the two doctors had to make, and that it was not inclined to grant any protection to the them.