The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted interim bail to a man accused of attempt to murder and other offences after observing that the medical opinion relied upon to add the more serious charge against him appears to have been manipulated by the doctor who furnished it.
The Court, comprising Justice N.S. Shekhawat, noted that from the report prepared by the Medical Officer of Aarogyam Hospital, Kurukshetra, it is apparent that the medical record in the present case as well as the opinion has been manipulated by the said doctor, who had given the opinion in the present case.
The FIR was registered under Sections 190, 191(3), 126, 324(5), 333, 351(3), 115 and 109(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, corresponding to Sections 149, 148, 341, 426, 427, 453, 506, 323, 307 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code. According to the prosecution, a rukka was received on 02 January 2026 regarding the admission of the complainant, Pankaj, at LNJP Hospital, Kurukshetra, following an alleged assault while he had gone out on bank work. When police reached the hospital, they were informed the complainant had already left. He later appeared before the police himself and gave his account.
The Medico-Legal Report obtained from Government Hospital, Kurukshetra recorded several complaints — headache, chest pain, pain in the right shoulder, abdominal pain, backache — but noted 'no external mark of fresh injury' for each, with only a 2x2 cm abrasion on the right knee found on examination, and referrals made for CT, X-ray, ultrasound and orthopaedic opinions.
It subsequently emerged that the complainant had been admitted to Shri Balaji Aarogyam Hospital, Kurukshetra. On an application moved by the police on 04 February 2026, the Medical Officer of that hospital gave an opinion that the complainant had presented with an alleged history of physical assault, that examination showed reduced air entry on the right side of the chest confirmed by HRCT as a right-sided pneumothorax, that an intercostal tube thoracostomy had been performed, and that the injury was 'dangerous to life' without surgical intervention.
On the strength of this opinion, the police added Section 109(1) BNS, corresponding to Section 307 IPC, attempt to murder, to the case. Examining this sequence, the Court observed that 'it is apparent that the medical record in the present case as well as the opinion has been manipulated by the said doctor, who had given the opinion in the present case.'
Rather than proceeding further against the doctor at this stage, the Court directed the Station House Officer, Police Station Krishna Gate, Thanesar, to produce the doctor before the Court on the next date of hearing, along with the complete medical record of Aarogyam Hospital, Kurukshetra. The matter was adjourned to 01 September 2026.
The petitioner, who has been in custody since 04 January 2026, was ordered to be released on interim bail in the meantime, subject to furnishing bail bonds and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court, Duty Magistrate, or Chief Judicial Magistrate concerned.
The case is titled Pardeep Kumar @ Pankaj v. State of Haryana. Appearances were made by Mr. Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner, and Mr. Rajiv Sidhu, Senior DAG, Haryana.