A criminal lawsuit against a doctor accused of leaving a sponge inside a woman's stomach during her childbirth operation in 2016 was recently dismissed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court [Dr. Asharani vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh & Another].

Without the forensic laboratory results, Justice Subodh Abhyankar stated that it was hard to prove that the accused had left the sponge behind.

The Medical Board's view, according to which a sterile sponge can stay in the stomach for years without causing complications for the patent, even though it can pose issues during a follow-up procedure, was also considered by the Court.

According to the Board's opinion, if the FSL report had been received along with the specimen taken from the petitioner's stomach, it would have been possible to determine how long the sponge was left in the stomach.

However, without the FSL report, this finding is not justified and is not possible, the Court stated.

Preeti Nema, the patient, was admitted to a government hospital in December 2016 due to labor pains. There, she underwent surgery and gave birth to a child. It was her second childbirth.

It was discovered later that she had a foreign body in her stomach.



Upon performing another surgery on her, it was discovered that a sponge that had been left in her stomach during the first procedure had become polluted and had begun to decay.

Nema said in her complaint that Dr. Asharani had left the cotton in her stomach while she was giving birth. A First Information Report was registered as a result of the complaint (FIR).

In response to the gynecologist's appeal of the FIR, the High Court of 2017 ordered the Investigating Officer to adhere to the guidelines established by the Supreme Court for cases involving medical negligence.

After that, a Medical Board stated that although it is unclear if the sponge was inserted during the patient's first pregnancy or her second, which was performed by Dr. Asharani, it was in fact remained in her stomach at the time of birth.

Dr. Asharani requested that the case be quashed, citing the medical board's explicit opinion that it was impossible to determine who left behind the sponge—her or the other doctor, the one who operated on Nema during the first pregnancy.

Additionally, it was argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove the offense under Indian Penal Code Section 308 (attempt to commit homicide).

After reviewing the submissions, the Court observed that although two medical boards that had investigated the issue had stressed the need to obtain the forensic lab report, it was not available because the sponge was never sent for analysis.

The Court stated, "In such cases, when the petitioner's criminal liability must be determined, it must be determined whether there is adequate evidence on file to support the accusations made against her."

The Court stated that the chargesheet against Dr. Asharani was solely based on the allegation that she was negligent in leaving the sponge in the patient's stomach.

But the Court emphasized that without the FSL report, it was impossible to establish the same.

As the prosecution has not submitted any documentation to support the claim that the duration of the sponge's stay in the complainant's stomach was related to the time the petitioner operated on the complainant, the single judge declared, "Under the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the considered opinion that no purpose would be served to prosecute the petitioner."

The Court dismissed the doctor's FIR as a result. It did, however, make clear that the complaint may pursue legal action against Dr. Asharani through civil remedies.