By Admin 
In an important judgment with far-reaching implications, the Supreme Court on Monday (May 4, 2026) ruled that in any case of medical negligence under the law, if a doctor dies, proceedings can be continued against his legal heir. The court made it clear that if a case of medical negligence is pending against a doctor, the case does not get canceled even after his death. In such a situation, the hearing can be continued by including the doctor’s family (legal heirs) in the case.
Justice J. Of. Maheshwari and Justice A. S. Chandurkar’s bench decided a legal question in a more than three-decade-old case in which a doctor had operated on the complainant’s wife, after which she lost her vision. Both the doctor and the complainant have died.
Describing this as a special case, the Supreme Court said that old statutory provisions had to be interpreted in this. However, the Supreme Court also clarified that it is only interpreting the applicable law and not deciding whether the policy is right or needs change.
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The bench said that in the context of Order 22 Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), it is necessary to understand whether the right to prosecute in a case of alleged medical negligence is lost after the death of the doctor or not.
The court said that ‘right to sue’ means the right to obtain relief through legal proceedings and such proceedings are normally initiated against the defendant, who has an equal right to defend himself. The bench also said that the right to defense and the right to prosecute are deeply interconnected and the co-existence of both is necessary so that the proceedings can proceed.
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The bench said, ‘Nevertheless, in view of the above discussion and the statutory framework given in the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 and the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, we come to the conclusion that on the death of the doctor who committed medical negligence, his legal heirs can be made parties and can be added to the record.’