Rajasthan: Police yet to register FIR against Sedwa SDM misbehaving with doctor

“The police instead tried to pressurise me into withdrawing my complaint and reaching a settlement in the matter,” the doctor alleges
The doctor & members of the UDF filing an official complaint on February 2.
The doctor & members of the UDF filing an official complaint on February 2.Pic: @drlakshyamittal on X
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Despite three days passing since an incident of misbehaviour by the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) at Sedwa, Rajasthan against a doctor, the latter alleges that the police have yet to file a First Investigation Report (FIR).

The incident in question is a confrontation between SDM Badri Narayan Vishnoi and a doctor at a Primary Health Clinic (PHC) in the district that took place on Saturday, February 1 — the video of which has gone viral on social media.

In the video, Vishnoi can be seen ordering the doctor to attend to a patient in the emergency ward, aggressively asking him to come out and threatening him with police action upon hearing that he already attended to her.

Further, he demanded that the doctor stay beside the patient, warning him that he was being recorded. The doctor kept reiterating that he already checked the patient, and had 250 other patients in the Outpatient Department to attend to.

The incident sparked outrage in the medical community, with prominent doctors and figures online being quick to express their condemnation.

It is also worth pointing that Vishnoi had been caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau while taking a bribe in 2013.

In response to the incident, doctors’ organisations such as the United Doctors’ Front (UDF) called for a state-wide black badge protest yesterday, February 3, in condemnation of the incident. Further, UDF also organised a Twitter Storm with #SuspendSedwaSDM and organised a two-hour pen-down strike, demanding accountability and the rustication of Vishnoi.

The matter even reached the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan, with Dr Shikha Meel Barala, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Indian National Congress demanding strict action against the SDM during the Assembly session yesterday.

Recalling the incident, the doctor said that he was attending to patients in the OPD when the patient arrived at the emergency ward with her parents. “The patient seemed to not be herself, and her parents were worried,” he told EdexLive.

However, he found that the patient’s blood pressure and sugar levels were normal. “After inquiring about the patient’s history, I came to know that her brother had just passed away. I diagnosed her condition to be anxiety and prescribed a few medicines, which I told the nurses to administer,” he narrated. After that, he retreated to the OPD chambers to attend to other patients.

It was at this time that the SDM arrived at the PHC with a cameraperson, followed by the confrontation.

When the doctor visited the police station to file a complaint, the police refused to register an FIR, he alleges. “They instead tried to pressurise me into withdrawing my complaint and reaching a settlement in the matter,” he told EdexLive.

“We want a compliant to be registered. The investigation into the incident and action that would be taken against the SDM is secondary, but an FIR is a must,” the doctor asserted.

Talking more about the case, Dr Lakshya Mittal, National President of UDF, informed EdexLive that all the doctors' associations are having a General Body Meeting today. “Any decision on our next course of action will depend on the outcome of the meeting,” he said.

Expressing his outrage at the case, Dr Arun Kumar, National General Secretary of the UDF said, "We are forced to protest or launch dharnas everytime an incident like this takes place, and it is not that we want to. We remember our Hippocratic Oath, and would prefer to follow it. We don't want to cease duties and come out on the streets just to be able to perform our duties without obstruction."

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