The promotion dreams of a Nashik magistrate has perhaps turned to dust after the Bombay High Court took suo motu action to revise an order passed by her, acquitting an ayurvedic doctor charged with causing death by negligence.

The order, passed by judicial magistrate first class RR Randive, was sent to the HC for assessment as she was being considered for a promotion. However, after going through the order, justice Bilal Nazki said, "Prima facie, I feel the judgment needs to be revised."

Earlier, the court had issued a bailable warrant against Dr Dnyaneshwar Nikam. However, on Wednesday, additional public prosecutor Poornima Kantharia told the court that no representation had been made from Nikam's side. Justice Nazki and justice AR Joshi then directed the state government to ensure that the warrant was executed, and adjourned the case for four weeks.

Nikam, a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree holder, was accused of causing the death of Gautam More, who had a sudden dip in blood pressure after a piles surgery on September 14, 2001. He died the next day. During the trial before the magistrate, four witnesses, including More's wife Ravita, were examined in court. The post mortem report indicated that death was caused by an anal abscess cavity.

Nikam had contended that with a BAMS degree, he was trained in surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics. He had said that he had performed the surgery by ksharsutra (a method in Ayurveda in which a thread dipped in alkali is used to cut through the body). But the post mortem report stated that the surgery was performed by incision and drainage.

The magistrate, however, at the time of acquitting him, observed that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove the charges against Nikam. She said that the fact that Nikam took care of More's expenses at his Nashik clinic showed that he was "sympathetic" to his patient.

Mayura Janwalkar/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication