Ambika bhardwaj
Published On: January 25, 2022 at 16:07 IST
The High Court of Madhya Pradesh in the Case of Dr Neha Padam v. Central Bureau of Investigation instructed the Applicant who was a Medical Student to tender her services biweekly, either at a District Hospital or a Community Health Centre.
Previously, the Court had permitted her Application for an Anticipatory Bail. To amend one of the conditions, the Division Bench of Justice Anand Pathak and Justice G.S. Ahluwalia was primarily dealing with an Application moved by the Applicant under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Anticipatory Bail was given to the Applicant in the Order dated 12.02.2021 in which one condition had to be followed by her. It was as follows-
“The Petitioner as a Shiksha Swayamsevak shall deliver physical and financial aid to Government primary school situated nearest to Petitioner’s house for guaranteeing sanitation and hygiene and for eliminating deficiencies of infrastructural amenities within said school from the skill of the Petitioner.”
The Applicant conveyed her concern about the current COVID-19 pandemic. She claimed that because schools are now running online, it would be hard for her to transfer to a Government primary school to perform community service in the capacity of Shiksha Swayamsevak.
Mr. Praveen Newaskar, who appeared for the CBI, argued that if the Applicant truly seeks to conduct community service as part of her undertaking, she could do so as a post-graduate medical student in any community health centre in her area.
Taking into account both Parties submissions, the Court decided to modify the respective Bail Condition by guiding the Applicant to undertake community service by doing the following-
“Petitioner shall visit P.C. Sethi District Hospital or Community Health Centre and perform her responsibilities as General Practitioner, and if necessary, she will assist Specialist/Ophthalmologist of the Centre by tendering her assistance.
The Petitioner will perform this community service on every alternate Sunday between 10a.m. and 2p.m. for a year, or until she completes her Post Graduation course in Ophthalmology. During her Community Service, she should not be a source of infection or distress to any patient in any way.”
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