The Calcutta High Court has directed a second post-mortem of two men who allegedly died after an electric pole fell on them during a fair at Khejuri in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, following objections raised by their families over the initial autopsy findings.
A division bench comprising Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Prasenjit Biswas ruled that a fresh medical examination would “address the doubts” raised by the relatives and aid the ongoing investigation. The court ordered that the second post-mortem be conducted at state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata by an “appropriate team” constituted by the hospital superintendent, under the supervision of the jurisdictional judicial magistrate.
The court further directed that the post-mortem reports be placed in a sealed cover and handed over to the Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police for investigation purposes.
The case concerns two victims — one in his 60s and another aged 23 — who died on July 12. While police initially registered the matter as an unnatural death, FIRs were later lodged after the families alleged that the men had been murdered.
The petitioners claimed that the first autopsy failed to note crucial injuries visible on the bodies, some of which were evident in photographs submitted to the court. Their counsel argued that the omission of these injury details cast doubt on the accuracy of the reports and warranted a fresh examination.
Opposing the plea, Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal government, warned that permitting such requests could set a “dangerous precedent,” and pointed out that police investigations into the alleged murders were still underway.
However, the bench noted that the explanation given by the autopsy surgeon under Section 180 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) reflected his judgement at the time, but since the bodies were still preserved, “a second opinion can be obtained” without casting aspersions on the quality of the first report or the ongoing investigation.
