HC quashes FIR against doctor, nurse in expired vaccine case

Observing that no criminal intent or gross medical negligence was involved, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed an FIR and all criminal proceedings against a doctor, who is the owner of Pawar Hospital in Majalgaon and a nurse posted there who were accused of giving an expired vaccine to an infant in 2022.

The case dates back to November 7, 2022, when an infant at Pawar Hospital in Majalgaon was allegedly administered a dose of the rotavirus vaccine that had expired in March that year. However, the child did not suffer any side effects and remained healthy.

Calling the case filing "a mistake, as no element of criminality was involved," the division bench of Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Sanjay Deshmukh observed that there was no prima facie evidence of gross negligence, nor was there any expert medical board opinion to support the criminal charges against the doctor and the nurse. The bench held that allowing the proceedings to continue would be a misuse of the legal process.